Against
all odds, girls bring home the gold in fencing -
Three teens from Beeches Sabre Club in Troy impress
with victory in France
TROY -- In a championship victory that draws inevitable
comparisons to the American hockey team's 1980 "Miracle
on Ice," three young women from the Capital
Region scored surprise gold medals at the Eurosabre
2006 fencing competition last month in France.
Like the men's hockey team at the Lake Placid Winter
Olympics, Heather Nelson, 15, Alison 15, and Tasia
Ford, 14, entered the international competition
with little overseas experience or hope of hoisting
a trophy.
"Nobody thought we would win," said Nelson,
the team captain from Clifton Park. "We were
definitely the underdogs."
But win the tournament's female Cadet competition
they did. And like the boys of 1980, they won in
dramatic fashion with an unlikely semi-final defeat
of a huge powerhouse. The hockey team beat the former
Soviet Union; the 2006 fencing team overcame what's
left of it, Russia.
"It was unbelievable," coach Carolyn
Washburn recalled, speaking at Beaches Saber Club
in downtown Troy, where the team trains. "I
close my eyes and all the images come back."
Eurosabre is the World Cup of saber fencing, and
was held last year in Meylan, France. Top male and
female fencers from across the world battled in
individual and team competitions.
Beaches, operated by Washburn and Alex Jeffrey,
had never fielded a complete team for a fencing
World Cup prior to 2006. Doyle, Ford and Nelson
are nationally ranked, and the U.S. fielded them
as its second, or "B" team, in France.
The three arrived Dec. 12 in Paris and started
competing in Meylan days later. Things started dismally.
All were eliminated in the first rounds of individual
competitions.
But the Capital Region unit never gave up as it
entered the team event, which featured consecutive
one-on-one duels to 45 points. To score points,
a fencer must make contact where their opponent
is wearing the color silver -- from the waist up,
including the arms and helmet.
The single elimination tournament opened against
two French teams. Opponents became more difficult
with each win: the Germans, the Russians, then the
championship final against the American "A"
squad, which was made up of stars from across the
East Coast.
After taking down the French, Nelson, Doyle and
Ford defeated a powerful German team late on a Sunday
evening. They advanced against the heavily favored
Russians from St. Petersburg.
"The Russians are a frightening team to fence,"
coach Jeffrey explained. "Awesome competitors."
The three women really clicked as a team. In a
battle described as epic, they rebounded from a
nearly insurmountable 30-19 deficit to beat the
fearsome Russians, 45-43, to advance to the gold
medal round.
In another hard-fought contest, the women rode
left-over adrenaline from the Russian match to earn
their improbable Eurosabre cup with a 45-42 victory
over the top-ranked U.S. team. It marked the first
time in U.S. fencing history that members of a winning
World Cup team came from a single club, Jeffrey
said.
He said the big win could pave the way toward Olympic
participation for the girls, if not in China in
2008, then by the 2012 games.
"It's amazing, so exhilarating to represent
your country," said Nelson, a sophomore at
Shenendehowa who wants to eventually attend the
Air Force Academy.
Ford, of West Sand Lake, credited her success to
mental preparation and serious training. "Attitude
is very important, too," she said.
Doyle lives in Troy and picked up fencing from
her brother.
She had never competed in a world competition prior
to landing the winning "touch" against
the Russians last month, which caused her teammates
to wrap her in hugs.
Beaches, too, will never be the same. As it prepares
to celebrate its 10th anniversary May 1, it is having
a big case built.
In it will go the trophy from France with a picture
of the three champions standing under the Eiffel
Tower.
"We knew the girls were capable of doing well
in Europe; we just didn't think it would happen
this early," Jeffrey said.
|
