Fencing (Sport)

Subterms

    Latest story

    125 Shares179 Views

    Lauren Scruggs Makes History as Americans Win Olympic Fencing Gold

    by

    After Scruggs, 21, became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic fencing medal, she clinched gold for the U.S. team.After Lauren Scruggs clinched the gold medal for the United States in the women’s fencing team foil competition on Thursday, she threw off her mask and spun around, her eyes and mouth wide open.It was the team’s first-ever gold in the event. But it wasn’t the first big moment for Scruggs at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.On Sunday, Scruggs, in her Olympics debut, became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic fencing medal for the U.S.“Fencing has largely, historically, been a non-Black sport,” Scruggs told NCAA.com in a July interview. “So I hope to inspire young Black girls to get into fencing and to think that they can have a place in the sport. I just hope that more people who look like me, little girls like me, feel they have a place in the sport.”A Queens native and a rising senior at Harvard, Scruggs was around 7 when she started fencing. She was inspired by her older brother, Nolen, who was eager to try fencing after seeing “Star Wars,” “Good Morning America” reported.“As the younger sibling, I always wanted to do whatever he did, so I started fencing, and I stuck with it,” Scruggs told BET in an interview last month.Scruggs clung to the sport’s competitive nature, telling “Good Morning America” that it channeled her creativity. But as a Black fencer, she felt added pressure whenever she stepped onto the piste.“Growing up in fencing, no one really looked like me,” she said in the “Good Morning America” interview. “I think in order to prove myself, I really had to be the best at the tournaments.”She kept winning those tournaments. Scruggs was accepted into the Peter Westbrook Foundation, an organization founded by Peter Westbrook, the first Black American man to win an Olympic fencing medal.The organization supports young fencers from underrepresented racial and economic backgrounds. Scruggs, who now volunteers as a mentor for the group, eventually wants to own her own fencing club, she said in the BET interview.Scruggs is a six-time world champion and the youngest U.S. foil fencer to win the Junior World Championship, according to her Harvard bio. She has been named a first-team All American three times at Harvard and was the 2023 N.C.A.A. national champion.She was No. 11 in the International Fencing Federation’s world rankings when she arrived in Paris.“I think my success in fencing has also helped break stereotypes about what Black people can do and who can be a fencer,” she told “Good Morning America.” More

    More stories

    • 138 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Hong Kong Taunts Italy With Pineapple Pizza After Olympics Fencing Win

      by

      After a fencer from Hong Kong beat an Italian for a gold medal, Pizza Hut’s offer of free pineapple toppings in Hong Kong was the city’s second jab at Italy.Losing an Olympic fencing title bout to the champion from Hong Kong was difficult enough for the Italian. Then came the pizza slander.Cheung Ka Long’s triumph over Filippo Macchi of Italy in the gold medal bout in men’s foil on Monday has led to a sour fallout that has spilled off the fencing strip: Pizza Hut’s Hong Kong and Macao branch has offered free pineapple toppings on its pies as fans on social media praised the combination widely shunned by the losing side.“All Hong Kong people are very happy and excited today!” the branch said in a Facebook post on Tuesday announcing the offer, adding it was also celebrating a bronze medal the Chinese territory had won on Monday, in the women’s 200-meter freestyle.Pizza Hut Hong Kong and MacauFor Hong Kong, which has already doubled its total historical gold medal count, to four, this week, the Paris Olympics have been an occasion for major celebration. After winning one in 1996 and another in 2021, it has won two golds this year, both in fencing. Vivian Kong clinched a title in the women’s épée individual competition.People in Italy, which has the most Olympic fencing medals of any nation, were disgruntled after referees ruled in favor of Hong Kong in what was a tightly fought men’s foil match. Controversy surrounded the final point, awarded after referees replayed footage on three separate occasions while both players were convinced they had won.Cheung eventually came out on top, with a 15-14 victory. He became the first athlete from Hong Kong to win two Olympic gold medals, and the third man to defend his title in the event.“It’s insane for me because I try hard every day to fight, to come to Paris, to France, to qualify for the Olympics,” he said after his win. “Now, another dream has come true.”The Italian Fencing Federation said in a statement on Monday that it would file a formal complaint over what it called “unacceptable refereeing.”“Filippo Macchi is the real winner,” Paolo Azzi, the federation’s president, wrote on social media. “He was denied the gold he deserved.”In response, Hong Kong fans launched a full-scale assault on Italian cuisine. “I like pineapple pizza and pasta with soy sauce,” one user wrote on Cheung’s Instagram page. The comment was followed by others celebrating the scandalous faux pas in Italian cooking.Advertisements for Pizza Hut and KFC in Hong Kong, in 2022.Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images, via Getty ImagesMacchi, who was competing in his first Olympics, said on social media that he did not want to blame the referees.“A long time ago, a person dear to me, as well as a great champion, told me: ‘You always celebrate a medal!’” he wrote. “And indeed this medal deserves joy and happiness.” More

    • 88 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Fencing Feud Highlights Ukrainian-Russian Animosity at Olympics

      by

      The war has torn apart old alliances and heightened the acrimony. A Ukrainian fencer is competing after her refusal to shake hands with a Russian rival got her barred from the world championships.Olha Kharlan of Ukraine shouted in celebration under the vaulted glass dome of the Grand Palais on Monday, after an early round victory in her pursuit of a fifth career Olympic medal in saber fencing.She had reached the semifinals by late afternoon. But just her mere presence confirmed that this niche sport, perhaps more than any other, illustrates the acrimony and caustic feuding that have resulted from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Kharlan, 33, was disqualified from the world fencing championships last summer for refusing to shake hands with her Russian opponent. But Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee and himself a 1976 Olympic fencing champion, gave Kharlan an exemption to participate in the Paris Games, citing her “unique situation.”There she was on Monday, competing in the Olympics, while Russia was absent from the biggest international event in fencing, a sport in which it has long been a power athletically and administratively.Ohla Kharlan, right, competing against Shihomi Fukushima of Japan in the Grand Palais on Monday.Andrew Medichini/Associated PressWith Russia banned from these Games because of its invasion, only 15 of its athletes are competing in Paris, all designated as neutral, without the accompaniment of the country’s flag or national anthem. There are none in fencing, a huge blow to the country’s Olympic prestige given that Russia and the former Soviet Union rank behind only Italy, France and Hungary in fencing’s overall medal count.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More