As the current generation of stars continued their build up to an Olympic season of international fencing, close to 700 veterans from 46 different federations competed at the 2019 Veteran Fencing World Championships in Cairo, Egypt, between October 5-11. USA topped the medal tally with six gold, followed by Great Britain and Italy with four each.
Seven days of team and individual competition across three age groups (50+, 60+ and 70+) have resulted in 24 gold medals being handed out inside the Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex in Egypt as part of this year’s Veteran Fencing World Championships.
Hosted by the Egyptian Fencing Federation, this was the first time the event had been held in Africa, more than twenty years after a single pilot event for Veteran Men’s Epee occurred at the Senior World Championship in Cape Town, South Africa in 1997.
Team USA veteran athletes started well on day one, winning bronze in the first event of the tournament, Women’s 50+ Sabre, followed by gold and bronze in the Women’s 60+ Sabre event, bronze in the Women’s 70+ Sabre and then silver and bronze in Men’s 70+ Sabre.
The medals continued to flow throughout the competition, including two gold’s on day two in the 50+ and 60+ Men’s Sabre, another on day three in the Women’s 60+ Foil, and then a final individual gold in the Women’s 60+ Epee on day five. The team’s final gold came in the final event of the tournament on day seven, when the men’s epee team were too strong for Italy.
USA ended the tournament with 22 medals in total, adding 12 bronze and 4 silver to their 6 golds. Standout performances came from Lydia Fabry from Simi Valley, California, who won her second world title in the Women’s 60+ Sabre, following up her 2015 win in the 50+ category, while Jane Eyre from Woolwich, New Jersey became the most decorated veteran fencer in the country after winning her seventh medal in total in the Women’s 60+ Sabre competition.
The full results of the event are available on Fencing Time Live here.