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ATHENS 2004 EVENTS
Fencing
Posted Tue, 20 Jun 2000

The competition

One of the four sports featured in every Olympic Games since 1896, fencing is the modern manifestation of an ancient form of combat, practiced indoors. Two competitors meet on a 14 metre stage using either the foil, epee or sabre.

The individual competition comprises a dual with direct elimination (as of the final 32 competitors), the winner being the first to score 15 touches. If, at the nine-minute mark, no-one has attained 15 touches, the fencer with the most touches is declared winner.

The team competition, also by direct elimination, is conducted on a relay basis with three fencers trying to attain 45 touches to win the bout. Each assault may last a total of three minutes.

Three types of blades are used: epee (solid, triangular blade), foil (flexible, rectangular blade), sabre (flexible, triangular blade).

Event preview In the mystifying world of fencing, Russia's Stanislav Pozdniakov is a superstar who intends to hammer home his reputation in Athens with a fifth Olympic gold.

The 30-year-old, who has one individual gold from Atlanta and three team golds from Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney, has also won three individual world titles in his career.

It was the Atlanta Games which confirmed his status as one of the greats when, at just 22 years of age, he reached the sabre final where he met team-mate Sergei Sharikov, who he narrowly beat thanks to two late touches.

But he is susceptible when the pressure is on.

At Sydney in 2000, he suffered a shock defeat in the quarterfinals at the hands of Frenchman Mathieu Gourdain, but he recovered to help Sergei Charikov and Alexei Frossine take the team gold with a win against France.

In the women's section, Italy's foil world champion Valentina Vezzali also rules the roost.

As a raw 18-year-old, she took silver at the Atlanta Games of 1996, before sweeping the gold in Sydney, where she was also part of the Italian trio in the gold medal winning team event.

In Sydney, she crushed the challenge of Germany's Rita Konig, winning by 15 points to five, before going on to win world titles in 2001 and 2003.

The United States will be looking to brother-sister team Keeth and Erinn Smart to win a first ever fencing gold.

Keeth is taking part in the men's sabre, while Erinn is bidding for glory in the women's foil.

"We've always been a competitive family. We would look up the dictionary for new Scrabble words," Keeth Smart said. "It would be the greatest gift in the world if we could both win gold. It would be wonderful."

United States fencers have won 10 Olympic medals, none of them gold, and six came a century ago in St. Louis. US fencers have only a pair of bronzes to show for the past 70 years, most recently by Peter Westbrook in 1984.

Keeth, who turns 26 in July, traded foils against Erinn, 24, at age 14, recalling, "I couldn't beat her. I couldn't beat anyone. But as time went on I picked it up."

Around 200 fencers will be taking part in the 2004 Olympics, with the competition being staged at the Helliniko Olympic Complex.

This year sees a women's sabre tournament taking place for the first time.