Both the Canadian Men’s and Women’s Foil programs were busy in FIE World Cup action this past weekend and both programs are off to a great start.
Women’s Foil kicked off the season with four Canadians finishing in the top 10, including a bronze medal for Alanna Goldie (Calgary, AB), at the FIE Satellite competition in Cancun, Mexico on October 15th. Goldie lost a close semi-final 15-13 to Ireme Karamete from Turkey to finish third, while Shannon Comerford (Saskatoon, SK) finished fifth. Comerford lost her match to advance to the semis to eventual gold medal finalist Natalyi Michel, a close 15-13.  Rounding out the top 10 were Jerrica Gu (Edmonton, AB) in 9th and Eleanor Harvey (Hamilton, ON) in 10th place.
Canada’s women’s foil athletes were in action again in the FIE World Cup in Cancun from Oct. 17-18, 2014.  Alanna Goldie continued her great start to the season with a top 16 finish in Individual competition.  Goldie finished 13th out of 114 competitors and defeated Elisa Di Francesca from Italy, ranked second in the world, 15-12 to advance to the round of 16.
"It was a long four days having the satellite and world cup back to back but I was well prepared thanks to my Team and coach back at Ohio State University,” stated Goldie.  “I'm happy to have a good start to the season. This result wouldn't be possible without the support of the Canadian team, my coach Vladimir Nazlymov, and Finger Food Studios."
Canada’s men’s foil team was also in action this past weekend at the World Cup individual and team competition in San Francisco, California.  Canada’s best result in individual was from Maximilien Van Haaster (Montreal, QC) who finished 46th out of 192 competitors. 
The men’s Foil World Cup also included a team competition and this is where Canada was able to shine.  The team comprised of Montreal natives Maximilien Van Haaster, Etienne Lalonde, Anthony Prymack and Eli Schenkel from Toronto finished an impressive top 8.
In the team’s first match, they sought revenge against Belarus who defeated Canada at the 2014 World Championships in July, 45-30.  Canada was able to turn around this result and defeated Belarus 45-37 to advance to the round of 16. In this round, Canada had the enormous challenge of facing number two world ranked China and came out on top 45-40, a tremendous achievement for the Canadian team.  The team then faced Japan in the quarter-finals and lost 45-39.  The team finished 8th overall following classification matches, losing to France and Korea, with Van Haaster unfortunately out of the competition due to injury.
The top 8 result was important to the Canadians who are making a run for qualification for the Rio Olympic Games in team. “We are on track and developing a good team,” noted Etienne Lalonde-Turbide. “The door is open to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio with the Americans currently ranked top 4 in the FIE rankings, leaving our zone spot up for grabs.”
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For further information, please contact: Caroline Sharp, ed@fencing.ca, 613-323-5605