US Women Golden in Orleans

The US Women’s sabre team won an important Olympic qualifying event this weekend in both team and individual competitions by defeating Russia in the team finals to take the team gold medal at the Orleans Grand Prix.

Earlier in the weekend, the US women shined on the individual stage, with Rebecca Ward (pictured, left) and Sada Jacobson fencing for the individual final. Ward won the match, solidifying her position as the #2 ranked fencer in the world behind China’s Xue Tan.

{mosimage} The US Women’s Sabre team is now ranked 2nd in the world, behind France who placed 3rd before a home town crowd.

In the individual events, Gold medalist Mariel Zagunis dropped her match in the round of 64 to Poland’s Irena Wieckowska 15-13. Sada Jacobson, seeded 6th, broke seed and defeated China’s Tan before to earn a trip to the gold medal bout.

On the other side of the table, Ward faced a 14-10 deficit against Russian Sophia Velikaia, but rallied for 5 strait points to win 15-14.

Ward then defeated Jacobson in the all-US gold medal bout.

The individual performances put the US women at 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the individual rankings. China’s Xue Tan still holds a sizable lead in world cup points for the #1 overall rank.

The US women are all but guaranteed an Olympic berth, but the remaining events of the season will be very important for seeding into the direct elimination tables for the Olympics.

Final Results – Orleans Grand Prix – Individual Women’s Sabre