Fencing

U.S. Olympic fencer Alen Hadzic was declared permanently ineligible by the U.S. Center for SafeSport on Tuesday following an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations, according to Nancy Armour of USA Today.

USA Fencing Board Chair David Arias and CEO Phil Andrews said in a statement:

The road to resolution of this matter has been long and arduous. We thank the community for your patience as we allowed the independent U.S. Center for SafeSport — which has the exclusive authority to adjudicate reports of alleged sexual abuse and sexual misconduct within Olympic and Paralympic governing bodies and amateur sports organizations — to exercise its exclusive jurisdiction over this matter and conduct a thorough investigation.

USA Fencing is pleased that the Center has issued a decision that provides clarity and peace of mind to our athletes, coaches and the fencing community.

At USA Fencing, athlete safety — both on and off the fencing strip — is our top priority. Today's decision by the Center assures that conduct that is threatening, harmful or inappropriate toward anyone in our sport will not be tolerated.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport initially suspended Hadzic in June 2021 after three women accused him of sexual misconduct against them between 2013 and 2015. However, he was still allowed to compete during the investigation that lasted more than two years.

USA Fencing permitted Hadzic to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which took place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after his June 2021 suspension was overturned by an arbitrator.

USA Fencing and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee developed a "safety plan" to keep Hadzic away from other athletes at the Tokyo Games. That plan included having Hadzic stay at a hotel. Athletes typically stay in the Olympic Village.

Hadzic has 10 business days to appeal the suspension.

Jack Wiener, the attorney who filed several of the complaints against Hadzic, told USA Today:

"Obviously, today's result was the correct one. For the many girls and women who courageously stepped forward to report rapes and other sexual abuse at the hands of this athlete. And for girls at risk of future abuse by him.

"But the multi-year investigation was far too long. During that time, girls in the fencing community were exposed to unnecessary risk. Much work remains if SafeSport is to function as its founders intended."

The Tokyo Olympics marked the first time Hadzic competed in the tournament.

Lee Kiefer made history at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo on Sunday, becoming the first American fencer to ever win Olympic gold in individual foil.

Team USA tweeted the news following Kiefer's landmark victory:

Kiefer won a tightly contested battle to take gold, outlasting Inna Deriglazova of the Russian Olympic Committee 15-13 in the gold-medal match.

The 27-year-old Kiefer is a Cleveland native who is competing in her third Olympic Games. She failed to medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London (placed fifth) and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (10th).

Kiefer entered the 2021 Olympics as a strong candidate to medal, however, after finishing second in women's individual foil at the FIE Grand Prix in Turin, Italy, in 2020 and finishing third in the event at the Fencing World Cup in Katowice, Poland, last year.

A four-time NCAA champion at Notre Dame, Kiefer finally broke through for Team USA after many close calls for the Americans over the years.

American men have won Olympic silver in the individual foil three times, with the most recent instance happening at the 2016 Summer Olympics when Alexander Massialas fell to Italy's Daniele Garozzo in the gold-medal match.

As for the American women, Kiefer is the first to win an Olympic medal of any kind in the individual foil event.

To take gold, Kiefer had to defeat one of the most prolific fencers in the world in Deriglazova.

Deriglazova is now a three-time Olympic medalist, taking silver in the team foil in 2012, gold in individual foil in 2016 and silver in individual foil this year.

She is also a three-time gold medalist in individual foil at the Fencing World Championships, and she won gold last year at the World Cup and this year at the Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar.

With Kiefer's triumph, Team USA has now won four gold medals at the 2021 Summer Olympics thus far.

Members of the Columbia University fencing team were informed Friday by the Secret Service they wouldn't be allowed to directly deliver a letter to President Donald Trump about his administration's stance on gender issues during a Champions Day visit to the White House.

Lions team captain Elise Gout told Scott Gleeson of USA Today they instead handed the message to a member of the president's staff.

"We passed the letter to a member of the [White House] press team, but it remains unclear if [the press team spokesman] will actually deliver it as he said he would," Gout said.

Fellow captain Nolen Scruggs said the team moved forward with a silent protest by wearing large white lapel pins for gender equality, per Jacob Bogage and David Nakamura of the Washington Post.

"The goal might not necessarily even be to communicate with the president but to communicate with the American people and get them to jump-start a conversation that might not already be happening," Scruggs said. "There's physical evidence that we did this, and just that alone is important."

They also provided the Washington Post with a copy of the letter they hoped to give Trump. It read in part:

"Since your time in office, you and your administration have proposed removing protective measures in Title IX that support survivors of campus sexual assault. Your recent Title X domestic gag rule has withheld critical financial resources from public health care providers, choking the access to family planning and contraceptive services. You have perpetuated a culture that conditions women and minority gender identities to be silent—to sacrifice the space they have every right to take up.

"Mr. President, we did not win NCAAs by sacrificing our space, and we will not secure a better future for this country by selectively representing the liberties of those within it. We ask that you recognize the harms to gender equality within the actions of your administration—be they by appointment, by policy, or even by your own language."

The Columbia fencing team, a coed squad, was among 22 collegiate national title-winning teams to visit the White House on Friday.

"And meeting these athletes—they're real athletes, I can tell you. It's a tremendous achievement," Trump told reporters. "And we're bringing many of them over to the Oval Office. I guess all of them. So far, nobody has turned that one down because it is a special place. They want to be there within 25 years, somebody out of here."

The Lions are a national powerhouse, winning three of the last five NCAA championships.

Team USA fencer Race Imboden took a knee as a form of silent protest Friday during the medal ceremony to celebrate the Americans' gold medal in the team foil competition at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru.

Imboden explained his decision on Twitter:

The 26-year-old Florida native is a two-time Olympian who took home a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Games in team foil.

He further discussed following in the footsteps of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the other athletes who've taken a knee during the United States' national anthem in recent years in an Instagram post where he called Donald Trump a "president who spreads hate."

"I chose to sacrifice my moment today at the top of the podium to call attention to issues that I believe need to be addressed and changed," Imboden wrote. "I encourage others to please use your platforms for empowerment and change."

Imboden teamed with Gerek Meinhardt and Nick Itkin to score a dominant 45-23 victory over Brazil in the gold-medal match.

Neither Meinhardt nor Itkin joined Imboden in his protest.

If you've ever role-played with a lightsaber, it turns out you were really training for a future sport.

According to the Associated Press (via ESPN), the French Fencing Federation has recognized the Star Wars weapon as an official tool for the sport, joining the Olympic-approved blades of foil, epee and sabre.

The swords in question are LED-lit, rigid polycarbonate lightsaber replicas, but they still provide the same effect for fans of the movie franchise even if they can't actually slice off a person's hand.

As the federation's secretary general Serge Aubailly explained, the rule changes are a way to motivate young people to participate.

"It's becoming difficult to [persuade them to] do a sport that has no connection with getting out of the sofa and playing with one's thumbs," Aubailly said. "That is why we are trying to create a bond between our discipline and modern technologies, so participating in a sport feels natural."

Lightsaber dueling could bring Star Wars fans out of the woodwork and allow them to showcase their skills on a bigger stage.

Shin A-Lam's failure to advance on from her semifinal match against Germany's Britta Heidemann was through no fault of her own.

The South Korean fencer was tied at five with the defending Olympic gold medalist when the clock struck zero. She would have been awarded the upset victory and a chance at the gold medal if she lasted through the sudden death round due to a "priority ruling," but that was not the case.

According to BBC, "referee Barbara Csar reset the time with one second left after Shin was guilty of an infringement..."

The judges then presumably followed protocol and adjusted the clock accordingly.

Per The Telegraph: "The countdown clock in the 25-year-old’s contest against reigning Olympic gold medallist Britta Heidemann was reset from zero to one second with the scores tied on 5-5."

That seems reasonable enough, and well-warranted if Shin did indeed commit a violation that called for more time to be put on the clock.

What isn't reasonable is this next part (via The Washington Post): "It was during this third “second” that Heidemann scored the winning point, prompting the South Korean appeal."

In case you are having a hard to coming to a conclusion as to what happened, I offer you an explanation. 

Shin allegedly committed a violation just before the buzzer. One second was added to the clock because of said violation. The match then restarted, but the clock stayed at one second. Heidemann took three swipes at Shin, the third of which connected as time expired to give her a buzzer-beating victory

Shin's camp appealed the ruling while the fencer sat in a heap of tears in front of the entire crowd.

My first, and most minor gripe, is that the violation that Shin was alleged to commit has not yet been revealed. It is skeptical at best, especially given that her competition was the defending gold medalist.

Secondly, the appeal absolutely should have been overturned because the clock froze. This shouldn't have been a tough call to make, seeing as the outcome was not affected by a judges ruling that could not be overturned, but rather a technical failure.

The most heinous crime committed by the International Fencing Federation and the International Olympic Committee can be seen in this next excerpt from a Telegraph report:

The crowd was then incredulous when just before 7.40pm - nearly an hour after the incident - that an announcer claimed that in the rules the Koreans had to lodge money for the appeal to be valid.

Jaw-dropping. Obscene. Inherently wrong.

Those are just three things that come to mind upon reading that ludicrous rule. In an amateur competition, the Koreans needed to pay for their appeal to be officially considered.

What kind of operation is being run here?

None of these competitions are about sustaining a productive business or bringing in money. They are about showcasing the greatest talents all over the world across various platforms. Yet the Koreans needed to pay what was essentially a bribe to question a ruling that was questionable at the very least.

We still don't know what the violation was. The clock froze. And the Koreans needed to put forth financial compensation for anybody to care about what they thought.

All of this was occurring while a visibly distraught Shin sat on the piste waiting for an answer. She was told that she couldn't leave the field of play, for if she did, it would have been seen as her accepting defeat.

There's no reason for her to have to sit there in hysterics while her coaches fight for something that was rightfully hers. That is the least of the competition's problems, though.

Much to the chagrin of Shin and her camp, the ruling stood. Heidemann advanced to the gold-medal match, which she would lose. A dejected Shin went on to lose her bronze medal match.

Of course, the IOC hardly cares about what the public believes regarding this specific instance. Nothing will be done because nothing can be done.

Shin's chance at a gold medal is well in the past, and it is all because a cockamamie ruling that was not overturned for reasons unbeknownst to the general public.

Italian Elisa Di Francisca took home a fencing gold on Saturday, and her brand and career are going to blossom.

She prevailed in a dramatic final against fellow Italian Arianna Errigo by a score of 12-11, and she needed extra time to do so.

This triumph was not just about her performance in the finals. She didn't even get to that point until she upset Nam Hyun-Hee of South Korea in the semifinals.

Her opponent in the finals had a similarly difficult task to reach that stage. In the other semi, Errigo took down three-time defending gold medalist Italy's Valentina Vezzali.

It was a compelling day of competition, which saw a ton of elite play, but it is Di Francisca who stole the show. 

This type of success is not foreign to Di Francisca—she won the Senior World Championships in 2010. However, winning that competition will wind up paling in comparison to an Olympic gold. 

The lights don't get any brighter in the fencing world then they are at the Olympics. Di Francisca faced the best the world had to offer and found a way to come out on top. The poise she found during this gold medal run will benefit her going forward. 

She displayed ample skill and the ability to adapt. This quote from her, captured by the Associated Press, points towards the mental approach she took in this final. "Normally, I play more like a tiger, but in the final I calmed down."

With Italy dominating this event, it is sure to capture national attention. The public consciousness is going to have no problem attaching itself to this marketable talent. 

This gold medal is not just going to propel Di Francisca to great things in her sport, but also make her a star. That's not an easy trick for a fencing standout, but it is one Di Francisca is capable of pulling off. 

In my time with the Ohio State Fencing team, I had the honor of working under Vladimir Nazlymov, a 10-time world champion and three-time gold medalist in the sport.

Nazlymov grew up on the wrong side of Russia, and his face and hands are covered in the scars and signs of the street fights that defined his early life. He brought that street fighter's mentality to fencing and dominated the sport for many years.

As his student, I heard him utter "fencing is fighting" countless times.

I have never seen a better parallel to his catchphrase than Lyoto Machida. Some of the things that make Machida awkward, those little quirks, are considered proper technique in fencing.

Machida's stance is one thing that sets him apart from the very start of every fight. He keeps stance wide, heels in line, and the feet forming an "L." This is the classic fencing stance, allowing for quick, explosive, and balanced movements forward or backward.

For lateral movement, Machida is forced to open this stance up, but he quickly closes it again. When he moves, it is with rapid, measured, small steps, always in balance and ready for an explosive action. 

It is how Machida uses this footwork that really draws the comparison to fencing. To draw out punches and attacks, he uses a quick, tiny double step with a body fake, as if he is coming forward, but the hands stay at home, relaxed and ready for a strike.

This is the fencing body feint. When the distance is properly maintained, hand fakes do very little to open up a defense, but a body fake draws an reflex-like reaction.

When his oppennets then move in to strike, Machida does what so few fighters do: Instead of moving in to jam wild shots or throwing an imidate counter to beat the other fighter to the punch, he moves back.

Machida allows his adversary to fall short and then strikes at the moment of imbalance.

This again is a classic fencing action, the distance parry-repose. The fencer comes in with a body fake to draw an attack, then quickly leaps back, allowing the attack to fall short. But when the fencer leaps backward, he lands in a position poised to attack.

The feet are close together, knees bent, and weight slightly forward. As soon as the opponent's blade has passed, the fencer expodes into an attack.

The result is a defensive action that is so devastating it has been the bread and butter of fencing for hundreds of years. And Machida has brought the spirit of this action into the Octagon.

I recognized it instantly as he leaped back to avoid Evans's wild overhand punches, landing in that same explosive position, and struck as soon as Evans's balance was compromised.

In fencing, footwork and distance is king, and Machida makes his MMA matches all about footwork. He badly exposed Evans's stand-up footwork, and anyone who even thinks about going after Machida's belt better work on their ability move around the Octagon.

The matchup with Shogun Rua is one that could prove very interesting because, while Rua's run in the UFC has been less than impressive, he has shown the kind of tools necessary for the challenge that Machida presents.

I don't expect to see many fighters attempting to employ Machida's style, but I certainly plan to collect his fights on video as I move forward as a fencing coach to show young fencers they really are in a fight.