July, 2007 – Rio De Janeiro – Brazil: Serge Timacheff of FencingPhotos.com interviews Nat Goodhartz following the men’s foil competition.
Nat Goodhartz here in Rio De Janeiro for the first evening of the Pan American Games, and we come away with an American gold medal. How does it feel?
Listen to an interview with Nat Goodhartz:
{audio}https://fencing.net/podcast/goodhartz_0707.mp3{/audio}
Transcript
Serge Timacheff:
Nat Goodhartz: Oh, it feels tremendous. He earned every minute of it.
ST: Tell us a little bit about what led up to the win tonight?
Goodhartz: The pool was fenced relatively well, and the first couple of DE’s were a little bit sluggish, but as the day wore on I just began small errors, and he listened real well. He is extremely coachable, and he’s just a wonderful athlete, and the last two bouts in the medal round were extremely well fenced.
ST: Well, it seemed almost anticlimactic.
Goodhartz: Oh, in a way it was, because he struggled much more in the earlier bouts, and the last two were much easier for him, but having corrected errors, he’s such a wonderful Foil Fencer that it made the job much easier.
ST: And so what does this do for him as a Foilist in the standings?
Goodhartz: It really doesn’t do anything, but it’s a wonderful competition, and we’re very happy to be here. It doesn’t affect Olympic selection, but it’s a very important tournament, and we certainly honor it.
ST: It seems like the Americans aren’t the most popular people here.
Goodhartz: No, unfortunately that’s true, and we all wish that people would not assume that we’re not of one mind about how things operate in our country, but nevertheless, we chose to ignore the boos and many people have been incredibly gracious, so we’re grateful for that.
ST: Well, on a slightly different note, I understand that congratulations are in order for you being named to the American Fencing Hall of Fame.
Goodhartz: Oh, thank you so much.
ST: How does that feel? Tell me a little bit about your – what it is that you feel makes you deserve that position?
Goodhartz: Well, probably I just hung in there long enough to enjoy my coaching career. Honestly, it’s something that came from my peers, and my students were very supportive, so it was a beautiful evening in Miami Beach.
ST: Well, it seems that you’re on a good track right now, and the American Team is on a good track, and we’ll see you as we head towards St. Petersburg and on to Beijing.
Goodhartz: Well, we’re certainly looking forward to it, and thank you.
[End of Audio]
Nat Goodhartz here in Rio De Janeiro for the first evening of the Pan American Games, and we come away with an American gold medal. How does it feel?
