Rebecca Ward joined 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist Sada Jacobson and Gold medalist Mariel Zagunis in the top 4 ofthe 2006 Women’s Sabre World Fencing Championships.
Today was the day that the reigning Junior and Cadet World Champion would also claim the Senior title.
Zagunis and Jacobson met each other in the semi-finals with Zagunis winning the match to move onto the gold. It was then up to Rebecca Ward to win her match against Korea’s Hye Lim Kim to guarantee a US world championship.
Ward was down 14-10 in the best to 15 match and then rallied with 5 straight points to eke out the 15-14 win.Once at the gold medal match, Ward seized the momentum and won the first touch.
She never trailed in the match and was able to meet any run by Zagunis with a counter of her own. The two teammates fenced to an 8-6 score at the end ofthe first period. At the beginning of the second period, Zagunis came within one point at 8-7, but Ward answered and was up by at least 2 points for the rest of the bout. Ward won the gold medal bout 15-11.
With their performances, the US fencers swept the field, earning gold, silver, and bronze. Ward, Zagunis, and Jacobson will look to defend their team world championship later this week.