BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhuanet) — Athens Olympic silver medalists Wang Haibin and his home-known foil teammates have decided to quitfrom the international competitions, a Chinese fencing official said Wednesday.
Wang, who together with Ye Chong and Dong Zhaozhi were dubbed the Three Musketeers, ended up with runners-up finish in the men’s foil tournament in the Athens Games last month.
“The National Games (in 2005) will be definitely the farewell competition for them, and they won’t play in internationals any more,” said Wang Jian, the team leader of the Chinese fencing squad.
The three had retired for one year after they lost 45-44 to France in the final of the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but returned in 2003 to the national team for another run for the Olympic gold medal.
Dong, 31, and Ye, 35, teamed up with new rising star Wu Hanxiong to face Italy in the final in Athens, losing 45-42 in thefinal, where some decisions of a Hungary referee were dubious.
Ye had said before the Olympics that he planned to return to Shanghai, where he started his career, to become a coach of a fencing school, while Dong had no intention to stay in the sport.
The 31-year-old Wang did not reveal his plan for the future.
Wang Jian said the three had returned to the provincial teams for the preparation for the 10th National Games, which will be held in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Enditem