Montreal, April 7, 2014 – Canadian foilist Eleanor Harvey earned a place on the second step on the podium, Monday at the Fencing Junior World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

"I can't believe what I have just accomplished – it hasn't sunk in yet! A World Championship medal has been a goal of mine for 5 years now.  I couldn't have done it without the incredible support of my parents, grandparents, my coaches, teammates and my sponsor,” commented the thrilled Torontonian, who will be ranked 1^st internationally in Junior classifications in 2015.

After a five victory winning streak in the elimination rounds, Toronto’s Harvey was finally halted in the finals by American fencer Lee Kiefer. Kiefer, presently 11^th in the Senior world rankings, made her presence felt with an 15-11 score that earned the American the gold medal. Russian Svetlana Tripapina and Japan’s Karin Miyawaki – both eliminated in the semi-finals – will each go home with a bronze.

Sunday Harvey earned three wins and two defeats in the round robin, and faced Greece’s Aikater Kontochristopoulou in the round of 64; Harvey surpassed her with a score of 12-11.

Back in action on Monday for the round of 32, the 19 year-old fencer won 14-13 against France’s Julie Mienville, made short work of Lebanon’s Mona Shaito in the round of 16 with a score of 15-10, and bested Italy’s Camilla Mancini with a final score of 15-11 in the quarter finals.

Facing Japan’s Karin Miyawaki in the semi-final, Harvey trailed 3-5 at the start of the second bout, but rallied back to even the score, then went on to win 15-13 – accessing the finals where she would go on to win silver.

“This medal is a peak of a 4 year project to build a world class women's foil program,” offered Coach Paul ApSimon. “The CFF and our sponsor Finger Food Studios have supported this, and enabled us to develop program that will be sustainable and continue to produce world class female foilists for years to come – this is only the beginning!"

Also in action on the mat was Alanna Goldie (Calgary), eliminated in the round of 32 and placing 30^th; Jerrica Gu (Edmonton) also experienced elimination, this time in the round of 64, finishing 39^th overall. 

In Men’s Sabre events on Monday, Pascal Lambert (Epiphanie) posted Canada’s best result with a 32^nd place finish; Shaul Gordon (Vancouver) and Fares Arfa (Laval) reached 42^nd and 43^rd places, respectively.

Tuesday, Canadian epeeists Dylan French (Vancouver), Marc-Antoine Blais-Bélanger, (Montreal) and Kathleen Hannah Beach (Toronto) are set to duel in the rounds of 32 at the Fencing Junior World Championships.

French – bronze medallist in the Cadet category on Saturday – won his first matches in elimination rounds against South Africa’s Adam Shroeder and Germany’s Lukas Bellmann. Blais-Bélanger equally bettered Estonia’s Marten Mandla and Turkey’s Murtaza Berkan Anil. Kerr Hutchison (Kingston) was halted in the round of 64 by Brazil’s Luiz Rodrigues.

In Women’s fencing, Kathleen Hannah Beach earned two wins in matches against Israel’s Polina Melentiev and Australia’s Amy Reynolds to access the round of 32.

Teammates Vanessa Lacas-Warrick (Chelsea) and Andrée-Anne Paquet (Blainville) both saw their days come to a close in the elimination round Monday, ending with 34^th and 75^th places, respectively. 

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Written by Sportcom for the Canadian Fencing Federation