Gerek Meinhardt was behind on points, but scored the 45th touch of the match to give the US Men’s Foil team the gold medal over Italy in a 45-42 bout at the 2008 Junior World Championships. In Women’s Sabre, the US team finished with a silver, losing to the Ukraine in the final bout.
The US Men’s Foil squad faced a crowd of screaming Italian fans as they faced off against the hometown favorites of the Italian team. The US won 6 of the nine bouts of the match. Gerek Meinhardt, fifth in the individual event held the anchor leg for the US squad and was behind on points to Martino Minuto 5:6 but scored the last point for this sensational victory. France won bronze after a hard fight against Ukraine 45:43.
In the Women’s Team Sabre event, Ukrainian Olga Kharlan picked up her second gold medal of the week by adding the team gold to her individual title. Kharlan and the Ukrainian team bested the US squad of Rebecca Ward, Caroline Vloka, and Dagmara Wozniak 45-43. Russia defeated Germany 45-36 for the bronze.
Rebecca Ward and Gerek Meinhardt will compete for the United States at the Beijing Olympic Games in August. Dagmara Wozniak is currently the alternate for the US Women’s Olympic Team.
Full Results – Junior Men’s Team Foil
| Rank | Nation |
|---|---|
| 1 | USA |
| 2 | ITA |
| 3 | FRA |
| 4 | UKR |
| 5 | RUS |
| 6 | KOR |
| 7 | POL |
| 8 | CHN |
| 9 | CAN |
| 10 | JPN |
| 11 | NED |
| 12 | HUN |
| 13 | DEN |
| 14 | BLR |
| 15 | GER |
| 16 | GBR |
| 17 | ARG |
| 18 | POR |
| 19 | SVK |
| 20 | ISR |
| 21 | HKG |
| 22 | AUT |
| 23 | SEN |
| 24 | RSA |
| 25 | VEN |
| 26 | KUW |
Full Results – Junior Women’s Team Sabre
| Rank | Nation |
|---|---|
| 1 | UKR |
| 2 | USA |
| 3 | RUS |
| 4 | GER |
| 5 | POL |
| 6 | HUN |
| 7 | ROU |
| 8 | CHN |
| 9 | ITA |
| 10 | ESP |
| 11 | KOR |
| 12 | FRA |
| 13 | GBR |
| 14 | KAZ |
| 15 | HKG |
| 16 | JPN |
| 17 | AZE |
| 18 | VEN |
| 19 | ISL |
| 20 | AUS |