Eleanor Harvey (Hamilton, ON) made Canadian fencing history this long weekend by becoming the first women’s foil athlete to win a medal in a Grand Prix event.  Canada’s top Canadian men’s and women’s foil athletes took part in the FIE Grand Prix in Shanghai, China this past weekend, the last foil event on the FIE World Cup circuit for this season.  Harvey was Canada’s top performer, finishing in third place out of a field of 155 of the World’s top fencers, including 47 out of the top 50 world ranked fencers.

Harvey’s run to the podium started with her win against Poland’s Hanna Lyczbinska by a score of 9-5 in the 64’s.  She then defeated Hyo Jin Hong 10-7 in the 32’s and faced Svetlana Tripapina from Russia in the 16’s, winning a nail biter by the score of 13-12.  Harvey went on to defeat USA’s Jacqueline Dubrovich 12-5 in the quarter-finals to advance to the semi-finals.

Harvey’s first loss of the day was against Karin Miyawaki from Japan in her semi-final bout by a score of 15-11, giving Harvey her bronze medal. Inna Deriglazova of Russia took gold.

Harvey finished just off the podium at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio after defeating the number one world ranked fencer in her run to the podium. Winning bronze in a top Grand Prix event represents another important milestone.

“The result in Shanghai at the strongest event of the year, was a breakthrough performance by Eleanor,” stated Paul ApSimon, Head Coach of the National Women’s Foil Program. “Eleanor has been knocking on the door of the podium for just over two years.  She has made seven world cup quarter-finals since 2016, each time gaining experience towards achieving the podium.”

Stated Apsimon, “The coaching team are very excited that Eleanor has broken through as this is what she needed to become a consistent medal threat, and the timing is excellent with the World Championships coming up in July.”

Harvey’s result has now moved her into top 8 in the FIE World rankings as she heads into the final events of the season; the Pan Am Fencing Championships in June in Cuba and the 2018 Senior World Championships in July in Wushu, China.

In other news, Canada’s Maxime Brinck-Croteau (Markham, ON) and Malinka Hoppe Montanaro (Montreal, QC) both took home bronze medals at the FIE San Jose Satellite event for men’s and women’s epee this past weekend.

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For more information, please contact Caroline Sharp, ed@fencing.ca, 613-323-5605