History is being made right now in Athens as at least one U.S. women’s saber fencer is guaranteed to become the first U.S. woman ever to win an Olympic medal… …but which color will it be? NBCOLYMPICS.COM: ATHENS — The United States will have not one, but two fencers in the women’s individual sabre semifinal Tuesday night, thus guaranteeing the country its first female fencing medal. With Athens Olympic Organizing Committee Chairwoman Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki looking on, American Sada Jacobson defeated Leonore Perrus of France 15-11 in the quarterfinals Tuesday morning at the Helliniko Olympic Complex. Mariel Zagunis of the U.S. also won her quarterfinal match 15-11 over Elena Jemayeva of Azerbaijan. France’s Perrus had eliminated Jacobson’s sister Emily 15-13 in the round of 16, eliminating the possibility of the sisters fencing each other. Sada, ranked No. 1 in the world in individual sabre, touched her blade to Perrus’ right shoulder to end a quarterfinal match that was interrupted for several minutes in the first period because of an injury to Perrus’ right middle finger. The incident happened as Sada opened a 7-4 lead with a slashing defensive backhand touch to Perrus’ jacket. Her follow-through caught the tip of Perrus’ finger, and the Frenchwoman waited 10 minutes before accepting a glove from her team’s trainer. Perrus rallied after the injury and trailed 8-7 early in the second period. Sada soon took control of the match. When she opened an 11-8 lead, Perrus protested the point. After a brief comeback, she went into another tirade when Jacobson put a blade across her collar to make it 12-10. Jacobson, who drew a bye in the round of 32, made short work of Cuba’s Ana Faez Miclin in the round of 16, breaking a 2-2 tie with a 6-1 run and drawing off to win 15-4. Zagunis made it to the semifinals by breaking an 11-11 tie with a 4-0 run against Jemayeva. Along the way, her Azerbaijani opponent drew a yellow card from Korean referee Chung Gon Kim. Emily Jacobson defeated Tsz Ki Chow 15-11 in the round of 32, and then was eliminated by Perrus. Perrus put together a 3-0 run to overtake Emily for an 8-7 lead at the end of the first period. But after the Frenchwoman made it 9-7, Emily went on a 3-0 run of her own, including her quickest thrust of the match. Trailing 14-11, Emily scored a touch to Perrus’ jacket, just below her right arm, and touched her again to make it 14-13. But Perrus got her blade on Emily’s mask to put away the match and eliminated the world’s No. 10 fencer. Stay tuned for the most exciting semifinal for a generation as Jacobson takes on China’s Xue Tan and Zagunis faces Catalina Gheorghitoaia of Romania for the rights to fence each other for the gold!!!
US Fencing: Medal a Guarantee
