French Video Magazine – “Escrime” has a nice little article on the Olympic Womens Sabre Team medallists from Beijing : Link.

Youtube has video links to a great many Olympic links.

eg one here on the Italian Foilist Margherita Granbassi Link

Australias Angie Darby competes today (Friday 22nd) in Beijing in the Modern Pentathlon

10:30 am (all AEST) 10m Air Pistol [ranked 36/36]

12:00 Epee – 1 touch [31/36]

4:30 pm Swimming 200m Freestyle [35/36]

7:00 pm Horseriding Showjumping [7/36]

10:00 pm Athletics Track 3000 m  [31st]

Competition details can be found on the Beijing Site

The Mens competition was won by Russian Moiseev in back to back Olympic Golds. Link

History of the Modern Pentathlon Beijing Link

Day 9 Fencing:

Mens Sabre Teams

Gold Medal match France beat USA Link

Bronze medal match Italy beat Russia.

Results Link

Gold medal:  France

Silver medal: France

Bronze medal: Italy

4th: Russia 

5th: Belarus

6th: China

7th: Hungary

8th: Egypt

Day 8 Fencing:

Womens Foil.

Results Link

Gold medal:  Russian Fed. 

Silver medal:  United States 

Bronze medal: Italy 

4th: Hungary

5th: Germany

6th: China

7th: Poland

8th: Egypt

Day 7 Fencing:

Mens Epee.

Teams Finals 

Gold Medal match: France  beat Poland 

Bronze Medal match: Italy beats China

Poland climbs over China to make the Final in an exciting Mens Epee Tournament 

Results Link

Gold medal:  France 

Silver medal: Poland 

Bronze medal: Italy

4th: China

5th: Hungary

6th: Venezuela

7th: Ukraine

8th: Korea

9th: South Africa

Day 6 Fencing:

Womens Sabre.

Top Seeds France and USA lose in the semi’s…

Gold Medal Match: Ukraine v China is a cracker won by 1 point …..link to incredible turnaround match scores.

Results Link

Gold medal:  Ukraine

Silver medal: China

Bronze medal: USA

4th: France

5th: Russia

6th: Poland

7th: Canada

8th: South Africa

Day 5 Fencing:

Womens Epee Individual.

Australia’s Amber Parkinson lost to HARADA Megumi JAPAN 15-9 in the round of 32

Bout link

 Link

Results Link

Gold medal:  HEIDEMANN Britta GERMANY

Silver medal: BRANZA Ana Maria ROMANIA

Bronze medal: MINCZA-NEBALD Ildiko HUNGARY

Day 5 Fencing:

Mens Foil Individual.

Link

Results Link

Gold medal:  KLEIBRINK Benjamin Philip GERMANY

Silver medal: OTA Yuki JAPAN

Bronze medal: SANZO Salvatore ITALY

Wednesday 13/8/08: Mens Individual Foil and Womens Individual Epee is on today.  

The 2008 Beijing Olympics are underway.       

The Beijing website has updated dates of Fencing events: August 9-17,

Keep an eye on the 2008 Olympic Page for updated results and News

Event Timetable can be found under “2008 Olympic” page.

Or for more information : Beijing

* Venue photos and Olympic location Link      

* Follow all the Australian Athletes on the link .

* International Athletes link .

Link to ESPN intro to Olympic Fencing .

Another link on everything for the Olympics from Yahoo7 .

Day 4 Fencing:

Mens Sabre Individual. photos

China wins its first Olympic Sabre Gold Medal in an amazing display by beating France in the Semi and Gold medal match. Link

Results Link

Gold medal:  ZHONG Man CHINA

Silver medal: LOPEZ Nicolas FRANCE

Bronze medal: COVALIU Mihai ROMANIA

You can watch replays of 2008 Olympic Competition Fencing on

Casttv

Day 3 Fencing:

Womens Foil Individual.

Gold medal:  VEZZALI Maria Valentina  ITALY

Silver medal: HYUNHEE Nam KOREA

Bronze medal: GRANBASSI Margherita ITALY

Gold Medal Match

VEZZALI Maria Valentina  ITALY  def 6-5 HYUNHEE Nam KOREA Bout Link

LINK
Jo Halls Australia fought back bravely from 10-5 down but just couldnt beat Misleydis Company from Cuba losing 15-13, in the round of 64 (32nd seed). Link

Yahoo7 Article

Full Results Beijing Link

Photos and Fencing.net link soon

Day 2 Fencing:

Mens Epee Individual.

Gold medal: Matteo Tagliariol ITALY

Silver medal:  Fabrice Jeannet FRANCE

Bronze medal: Jose Luis Abajo SPAIN

Full Results Beijing Link 

Photos and Fencing.net link

The USA has trifected the womens Sabre winning Gold, Silver and Bronze!

Mariel Zagunis won back to back Gold medals as the USA dominated.

Photos and Fencing.net Link

The Fencing schedule can be found Here

Jo Halls fences first up on Monday 10am against

COMPANY Misleydis  Link

Amber Parkinson fences last on wednesday 230pm against

HARADA Megumi Link

Day 1 Fencing:

Womens Sabre Individual.

Gold Medal:  Mariel Zagunis USA

Silver Medal: Sada Jacobson USA

Bronze Medal: Rebecca Ward USA

for full results Beijing Link

Photos and Fencing.net link

The leading Olympic Athletes of the World have written an open letter to the Chinese Government, condemning China’s Human Rights history.

Amnesty International (Germany) and the International Campaign for Tibet have backed the letter, which was printed in the International Herald Tribune on Wednesday.

Link Courtesy of BBC Sport

The countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics is over!!

The Opening Ceremony starts at 8pm Beijing Time. 

The Beijing website has updated dates of Fencing events: August 9-17,

Keep an eye on the 2008 Olympic Page for updated results and News

Event Timetable can be found under “2008 Olympics” page.

Or for more information : Beijing

* Venue photos and Olympic location Link      

* Follow all the Australian Athletes on the link .

* International Athletes link .

Link to ESPN intro to Olympic Fencing .

Another link on everything for the Olympics from Yahoo7 .

Australian Pentathlete Angie Darby has won her battle to Compete in Beijing, and will now be able to attend the opening ceremony on Friday night.

Darby 21 from Melbourne, was cleared by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne Switzerland yesterday.

A British lawyer initially attempted to rub Darby out, claiming she had not satisfied the selection criteria by qualifying at recognised international competitions.  This then went to the CAS after the Greek Olympic Association took up the attack.

Angie will compete in the 5 event program on the 22nd (day 14).

Link to Olympic Site

Italian World Number 3 Andrea Cassara will be Andrea Baldini’s (Former world number 1)  replacement for the Olympic Mens Foil Individual Competition beginning on Wednesday 13th August in Beijing.

Baldini tested positive for Furosemide (Lasix) in Kiev in the European Championships last month.  Baldini lost in the 8 at the European Championships, but has since had his points removed after the test. 

Cassara is the current European Champion winning the same event.

The Fencing Timetable for the Beijing Olympic Games

Saturday 9th: Womens Sabre Individual & Finals

Sunday 10th: Mens Epee Individual & Finals

Monday 11th: Womens Foil Individual (Jo Halls) & Finals

Tuesday 12th: Mens Sabre Individual & Finals

Wednesday 13th: Mens Foil Individual & Finals

Wednesday 13th: Womens Epee Individual (Amber Parkinson) & Finals

Thursday 14th: Womens Team Sabre Finals

Friday 15th: Mens Team Epee Finals

Saturday 16th: Womens Team Foil Finals

Sunday 17th: Mens Team Sabre Finals

Friday 22nd: Womens Modern Pentathlon (Angie Darby)

For Further Information .Beijing Site.

World Number one Italian Foilist Andrea Baldini has been removed from the Italian Team for the Beijing Olympics, for failing a drugs test during the last European Championships.

Details all over the web…. Courtesy of Reuters 

* Baldini’s B sample has also proved positive on Monday 4/8/08 GMT Reuters

There is a very good article on Drugs in Sport in Reuter titled “Zero Tolerance” Article Link

A new publication has been released for sale at the Beijing Olympics on the “Worlds Best Fencers” by Jie Ao.  Available in English, French and Chinese.

link         

Perth AFF #3 1-4 August 2008

for full results go to AUSFENCING LINK

EPEE 

Womens Epee: Mita Hill,

Veterans Womens Epee: Julie Seggie,

Club Teams Womens Epee: UTA,

 Mens Epee: Zac Casagrande,

Veterans Mens Epee: Roger McIntosh,

Club Teams Mens Epee: UWA,

SABRE

Womens Sabre: Min Yi Du,

Veteran Womens Sabre: Harriet Jordan, 

Club Teams Womens Sabre: UTS,

Mens Sabre: Simon Leitch,Veterans Mens Sabre: Zoltan Vilagosh,

Club Teams Mens Sabre: Chevaliers,

FOIL

Womens Foil: Katie Boyles,

Veteran Womens Foil: Jenny Bonney Millet,

Mens Foil: Zhen Huang,

Veterans Mens Foil: Zoltan Vilagosh,

Club Teams Mens Foil: VRI,

What do the Olympics Mean To You?

The Motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius, translated from Latin meaning Swifter (Faster), Higher, Stronger. 

Baron Pierre de Coubertain chose these words to depict the ethos of the Olympics. 

The Olympic Creed: ” The most important thing is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

I like this one:  In Fencing we cannot, learn without trying, win without losing, and compete without opponents.

The New Adidas Fencing Shoes – Adistar, are about to become available.

For more info check out the Adidas site                  ADISTAR