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Gold for Ward in Las Vegas
By Cindy Bent Findlay // U.S. Fencing Association // June 26, 2007
At the Gran Prix and World Cup events in Las Vegas, Nevada last weekend, U.S. athlete Rebecca Ward won the first 2008 Olympic trial on American soil.
Ward (17, Portland, Ore.), the youngest athlete in the top 10 by five years, soundly defeated 2000 Olympic silver medalist Xue Tan in the final, 15-7 to win the individual women's saber Gran Prix event.
Also turning in stellar performances were Ward's clubmate and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Mariel Zagunis (22, Beaverton, Ore.) and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Sada Jacobson (24, Dunwoody, Ga.). Zagunis and Jacobson finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
With the gold, Ward becomes the #1-ranked women's saber fencer in the world. Zagunis and Jacobson are ranked #3 and #4, respectively.
U.S. women's foil fencer Emily Cross (20, New York, N.Y.) hung on to her #8 spot in the FIE world rankings, as well, with a fifth-place finish in the individual women's foil event.
The women's foil podium reflected the new world order of fencing, with three Italian fencers and four Asian athletes standing alongside Cross. Italy's Ilaria Salvatori defeated Hyun Hee Nam of Korea to win the gold.
Cross was defeated in her attempt to reach the medal rounds in an exciting 12-8 bout that went to overtime by Giovanna Trillini, one of the legends of the sport.
Trillini has participated in every Olympic Games since 1992, and holds seven Olympic medals - tied for the most in Olympic fencing history.
Finally, in the individual men's saber event, Ivan Lee (26, Brooklyn, N.Y.) turned in a great performance, finishing ninth, losing only to the eventual gold medalist, Jingzhi Wang of China, in a 15-10 bout. Lee climbs a notch in the FIE world rankings, to #7.
U.S. teammate Tim Morehouse (25, Bronx, N.Y.) was just a step behind him, losing by one touch to reach the final of eight to Dmitri Lapkes of Belarus, who is ranked fifth in the FIE world rankings.
Full results are below. For tables, see www.fie.ch. For more information, please contact:
Gran Prix Individual Women's Saber
Las Vegas, Nev., 23 June 2007
1 WARD Rebecca USA
2 TAN Xue CHN
3 MARZOCCA Gioia ITA
3 KIM Keum Hwa KOR
5 ZAGUNIS Mariel USA
6 JACOBSON Sada USA
7 VELIKAIA Sophia RUS
8 LEE Shin Mi KOR
9 PERRUS Leonore FRA
10 NETCHAEVA Elena RUS
11 KHARLAN Olga UKR
12 LUCCHINO Alessandra ITA
13 SASSINE Sandra CAN
14 CHOI You Jin KOR
15 ZHAO Yuanyuan CHN
16 WIECKOWSKA Irena POL
Individual Women's Foil
Senior "A" World Cup
Las Vegas, Nev., 23 June 2007
1 SALVATORI Ilaria ITA
2 NAM Hyun Hee KOR
3T GRANBASSI Margherita ITA
3T TRILLINI Giovanna ITA
5 CROSS Emily USA
6 SU Wan Wen CHN
7 IKEHATA Kanae JPN
8 HUANG Jialing CHN
9 VEZZALI Valentina ITA
10 DI FRANCISCA Elisa ITA
11 THOMPSON Hanna USA
12 TEO Serena ITA
13 ERBA Carolina ITA
14 LIU Yuan CHN
15 ANGAD-GAUR Indra NED
16 PIGLIAPOCO Claudia ITA
Individual Men's Saber
Senior "A" World Cup
Las Vegas, Nev., 23 June 2007
1 WANG Jingzhi CHN
2 MONTANO Aldo ITA
3T OCCHIUZZI Diego ITA
3T PINA Jorge ESP
5 LAPKES Dmitri BLR
6 MARTI Jaime ESP
7 RESHETNIKOV Veniamin RUS
8 CHEN Taotao CHN
9 LEE Ivan USA
10 LUKASHENKO Vladimir UKR
11 FROSSINE Alexei RUS
12 MOREHOUSE Timothy USA
13 TRETIAK Vladislav UKR
14 ZHONG Man CHN
15 HUANG Yaojiang CHN
16 SMART Keeth USA
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