The race to Olympic qualification is like the Indy 500. The race is a rolling start where you get to carry the momentum from prior tournaments into the race. In terms of Olympic qualification, things are looking good for the US Men’s Sabre team as they are off to a torrid pace for the first half of the 2007 World Cup Season.
Just this past month in Algeria, Tim Morehouse took the silver medal and was one point away from claiming a world cup victory, losing to Julien Pillet (FRA) 15-14. Pillet is currently ranked #2 in the world rankings.
Tim sums up the current US Men’s Sabre season:
We have had 6 world cups in a row with an American in the top-8 at least and 3 with an American in the top-4. Ivan Lee third in Istanbul, Jason Rogers third in Bulgaria and yself being 2nd in Algeria. We have never done this before. The only run similar was Keeth by himself in 2003-2004 season when he went to #1 with 4 or 5 top 4s in a row. This is now new territory for us.
For the first time in history we also have 4 Americans in the top 32.
Right now, the US Men’s team is ranked 8th, which would put them against France in the round of 8. There are still 2 more FIE team events and then the Pan American zonal championships. If the US does well in the team events, then they could move up a couple of spots in the rankings and improve on their draw for the 2007 World Championships.
How well the sabre team does in 2007 sets up where they start for Olympic qualifying in 2008. Get ready for that rolling start.