Sabre fencer Mariel Zagunis, the only daughter of two Olympic rowers, was born to be an athlete. However, Zagunis’ own Olympic odyssey has been anything but simple. Through disappointment, performance pressure and ultimately success, Zagunis proves that luck has little to do with it.
{sidebar id=1} It has been said that luck is the offspring of preparation and opportunity. If so, sabre fencer Mariel Zagunis is the embodiment of a heads-up penny, the quintessence of a four-leaf clover. Yet, her pot at the end of the rainbow takes the shape not of a black kettle filled with gold, but of two Olympic gold medals.
Born in Beaverton, Ore., to a pair of former Olympians (her mother and her father competed as rowers in the 1976 Montreal Games), Zagunis has the pedigree of elite athleticism. She attributes her some of her success in fencing to those genes and her first involvement in the sport to her older brother Marten.
"He had a lot of energy and wanted to run around and hit people. My mom knew she had to channel it somehow. Lucky for me, she signed him up for fencing. I just followed him into the sport," said Zagunis.
While her peers were running soccer fields or logging pool laps, Zagunis spent countless hours on the practice strips of the Oregon Fencing Alliance (OFA), perfecting footwork drills, learning tactical theory and strengthening both mind and body. It was at OFA, alongside eventual Beijing opponent Becca Ward and under the direction of coach Ed Korfanty, that she learned the nuances of the sport, which is so much more than a test of brute strength or extensive endurance.
"Yes, you have to be in great physical shape. But the hardest part of fencing is the mental game," said Zagunis. "You need a huge repertoire of actions so you don’t get figured out, and at the same time you have to be thinking of that move, and the move after that, and then the next one. It’s very intense, very involved."
For Zagunis, the second half of the luck formula, opportunity, unexpectedly presented itself. Although she won three consecutive Junior World Cup titles from 2002-2004, Zagunis did not officially qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens because of her world ranking. She was added to the American roster only after a replacement spot opened when Nigeria decided not to send its fencer. Like most great athletes, she seized the opportunity.
"When I initially didn’t make the team, it was devastating because I just couldn’t sit back and watch someone win my Olympic medal. So when I got the chance to go, I knew that I was meant to be there," she recalled. "Getting that second chance motivated me to show the world that I was meant to be there, that it wasn’t a fluke. And sure enough, I won the gold medal."
Not just any gold medal, but the first fencing gold won by any American, male or female, in 100 years. The magnitude of the occasion was not lost on Zagunis or the rest of her American teammates. Wrapped in an American flag, Zagunis was hoisted onto their shoulders as the entire U.S. fencing team celebrated the 19-year-old’s accomplishment.
Four years later in Beijing, Zagunis found herself in familiar territory but in an unfamiliar role. As the leader of an up-and-coming U.S. fencing contingent, Zagunis was not the underdog, but heavy favorite. Along with teammates Sada Jacobson and Becca Ward, she set the momentum in motion by leading the trio to a sweep of individual sabre medals, the first medals of any kind won by American athletes in Beijing.
"I think that based on the results for the United States in Beijing, I would like to think that maybe I did motivate some people to do really well because we, as fencers and as the United States in whole, had a fantastic showing," she said.
Zagunis will continue to train with the hopes of having another fantastic Olympic showing by striking gold in London in 2012, where her role will once again differ. No longer the underdog like in Athens or the tentative leader as she was in Beijing, she will be the fencer with the target on her back. But once again, Zagunis will show that her years of sacrifice, preparation and hard work yield great results as she amazes with her stunning footwork and fierce game.
Article Courtesy of Women’s Sports Foundation.
Reference Link: Mariel Zagunis bio on Women’s Sports
