The 2007 FIE Fencing World Championships kick off on Friday, September 28th. The US comes into the world championships with the Women’s Sabre squad at the top of the team and international rankings and with all of the other weapon squads vying for enough wins to help qualify them for the Beijing Olympic Games.
East meets West in St. Petersburg, Russia in the fencing version of the old Sino-Soviet-US triangle. The US is looking to take back the team world championship in Women’s Sabre, Russia looks to capitalize on home court advantage vs. its European competition, and China is here to send a message that they will be top contenders for Olympic Gold in one year.
Watch the 2007 FIE World Championships On-Demand at WCSN.com
The World Championships are held annually each year except in the year of the Olympic Games. The fencers are seeded based on their results in FIE World Cup events over the 2006-2007 fencing season.
Twelve former Olympians pepper the US roster including Olympic Gold and Bronze medalists Mariel Zagunis and Sada Jacobson. In addition, seven of the US fencers are ranked in the top 16 of the FIE world rankings.
These World Championships are crucial to Olympic qualification as points earned for placement in the world championships count towards the point totals that will be used in May, 2008 to select participants in the Olympic Games.
The fencing events will be available via Video On Demand with the World Championship Sports Network (WCSN). Visit WCSN to subscribe and watch the best in the world fight for the championship.
US Roster
Men’s Foil
Jed Dupree (27, Bethlehem, PA / New York, N.Y.)
Andras Horanyi (20, Boulder, CO)
Gerek Meinhardt (17, San Francisco, Calif.)
Jon Tiomkin (28, Hewlett, N.Y.)
Women’s Foil
Emily Cross (20, New York, N.Y.)
Hanna Thompson (23, Rochester, N.Y.)
Erinn Smart (27, New York, N.Y.)
Iris Zimmermann (26, Rush, N.Y.)
Women’s Epee
Lacey Burt (22, Beaverton, Ore.)
Courtney Hurley (17, San Antonio, Texas)
Kelley Hurley (19, San Antonio, Texas)
Maya Lawrence (27, Teaneck, N.J.)
Men’s Epee
Seth Kelsey (26, Brush Prairie, Wash.)
Cody Mattern (26, Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Soren Thompson (26, San Diego, Calif.)
Benjamin Ungar (21, Bronx, N.Y.)
Men’s Saber
Ivan Lee (26, Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Keeth Smart (29 Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Tim Morehouse (29, Bronx, N.Y.)
Jason Rogers (24, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Women’s Saber
Sada Jacobson (24, Dunwoody, Ga.)
Rebecca Ward (17, Portland, Ore.)
Dagmara Wozniak (19, Avenel, N.J.)
Mariel Zagunis (22, Beaverton, Ore.)
Cadre:
Chef of Mission – Sam Cheris
Captain – Jeff Bukantz
Team Leader – Bob Largman
Team Manager/Staff Liaison – Andrea Lagan
Men’s Epee Coach – Gago Demirchaian
Men’s Foil Coach – Simon Gershon
Men’s Saber Coach – Yury Gelman and Daniel Costin
Women’s Epee Coach – Jim Carpenter
Women’s Foil Coach – Nat Goodhartz and Mike Pederson
Women’s Saber Coach – Ed Korfanty
Armorers – Ron Herman and Matthew Porter
Trainers – John and Marli Carollo
Referee to the Championships from the U.S.: Doug Findlay
