Thompson knocks off teammate Seth Kelsey on the way to his podium finish.
Soren Thompson entered the top-64 at the Challenge Bernadotte faced off against teammate and #5 seed Seth Kelsey. He defeated Kelsey 9-8 and then went on to take 3rd place. Kelsey was not the only big upset as France’s Gauthier Grumier lost in the round of 64.
The 2011 Challenge Bernadotte grew to 191 fencers, hailing from 43 nations. That’s an increase from the 2010 number of just 27 nations.
Seth Kelsey (USA) had an unkind 1st round match with teammate Soren Thompson. Thompson won the match 9-8, leaving Kelsey to finish 34th.
Soren took his win over Seth Kelsey and ran it into a podium finish. After defeating Kelsey, he bested Sergey Khodos (RUS) 15-7, then regional rival Ruben Limardo (VEN) 15-14.
In the top-8, Thompson faced off against Max Heinzer (SUI) started off strong with a 4-2 first period. He extended the lead by one to end the second period up 9-6. In the 3rd, Heinzer scored a touch 1 minute into the period and then Thompson went on a 6-0 run to close out the bout 15-7.
In the semi-finals Thompson met Ronan Gustin (FRA). The fencers ended the first period with the score knotted at 4. After a back and forth second period, Thompson clung to a one touch lead at 9-8. He started of the 3rd period with two touches within the first minute to extend to an 11-8 lead, but then Gustin started to score, nibbling away at Thompson’s lead.
Thompson scored at 13-11 to go up 14-11 but then Gustin scored 3 straight touches to tie the score at 14-all. The score remained tied at the end of regulation and Gustin scored the decisive touch 26 seconds into the 1 minute overtime period.
Ben Bratton son his opening round match 15-10 against Vitaly Osharov (UKR) and then lost in the 32 to Guojie Li (CHN) 15-11. He placed 30th.
Norwegian youngster Bartosz Piasecki (NOR) showed no respect as he sent Gauthier Grumier (FRA) home with a 15-10 defeat. Grumier was never even close and Piasecki only gave away one single hit.
Top Results: 2011 Challenge Bernadotte
| Place | Country | Name |
| 1 | SUI | KAUTER Fabian |
| 2 | FRA | GUSTIN Ronan |
| 3 | EST | NOVOSJOLOV Nikolai |
| 3 | USA | THOMPSON Soren |
| 5 | HUN | BOCZKO Gabor |
| 6 | SUI | HEINZER Max |
| 7 | GER | SCHMITT Martin |
| 8 | CHN | LI Guojie |
| 30 | USA | BRATTON Benjamin |
| 34 | USA | KELSEY Weston |
| 75 | USA | VOMERO Nicholas |
| 109 | USA | RODNEY Adam |
| 115 | USA | TSINIS Alexander |
| 133 | USA | MOODY Jimmy |
| 171 | USA | SHERRILL Teddy |