In the first day of fencing competition for the 2003 Pan American Games, the U.S. Fencing Team heard the U.S. national anthem twice and took home four medals.
Sada Jacobson (Atlanta, Ga.) and Dan Kellner (New York, N.Y.) won gold in the women’s sabre and men’s foil individual competition, respectively, to kick the U.S. team off to a great start. Jon Tiomkin (New York, N.Y.), the silver medallist, met Kellner in a close gold medal match, 15-13, and Emily Jacobson (Atlanta, Ga.), Sada’s sister, won the bronze medal after losing the semi-final match to Alejandra Benitez of Venezuela, 15-14.
Sada Jacobson, ranked No. 1 in the world, was seeded first and favored to win, but still felt the pressure entering the competition. “I feel pressure when people are looking to the U.S. team to do well and this is such a prestigious event. Everyone in the competition was out to win and was fencing hard. It forced me to bring out my best game.” Jacobson won the gold medal match over Benitez, 15-4.
Kellner, a returning Pan American Games silver medallist in a team event, won his first international competition gold medal. “I’m very happy. This is the first time I’ve heard the national anthem played at an international event because of my result. I’ve come in second or third in international competition, but this is the first gold.”
Tiomkin, after losing two bouts in the first round, fought his way through the direct elimination format to a close loss in the gold medal match. “I’m happy for Dan that he won and that he is Pan American champion. He fenced really well. It was a thrill to see two American flags go up on the medal stand.”
Bronze medallist Emily Jacobson narrowly missed a chance to compete in the gold medal match, falling by one touch in her semifinal bout. She was down 2-6 when she began to turn the match around in the second encounter, battling back to a 14-14 tie before losing the final touch. “It took me a while to get into the tempo of the bout. I knew what to do and when I changed it was a little too late. I’m still happy to win the bronze, but of course, I would have loved to be in the final match.”
Although the Pan American Games do not count for Olympic qualification, both Kellner and Tiomkin were quick to focus on the upcoming team event, which will serve as an indicator of how the U.S. men’s foil team may fare for Olympic qualification by zone.
“This was icing on the cake to win the individual event, but our goal the whole time has been to come here and win the team event. We want to show the other Pan American teams that we are the top team from our zone,” said Kellner shortly after his individual victory. “Both the individual and team events here will also help us to get ready for World Championships.”
The USA returns to action on Sunday with the start of the women’s foil individual and men’s epee individual events. Leading the American squad are Erinn Smart (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Emily Cross (New York, N.Y.) in women’s foil and Eric Hansen (San Bruno, Calif.) and Seth Kelsey (Brush Prairie, Wash.)
Posted originally at: https://fencing.net/forums/thread7508.html#post83540