May 25 – Gabriella Page managed to overcome jetlag, fatigue, and an experienced pool of competitors to win gold over the weekend at the women’s sabre satellite tournament in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The victory marks Page’s first ever international gold medal, making the win that much sweeter.

“The jetlag really hit me in the middle of the competition – I felt really tired,” said Page, “However, in spite of that I was able to concentrate on what I can control, like my emotions and my actions. I really pushed my body to the end.”

Page was solid in throughout the pool round, winning four of her six matches en route to the table of 32. She ran through her opposition there, too, picking up victories in bouts against Australian Sally Bennett, 15-8, in the table of 16, followed by another decisive victory by a score of 15-9 in the table of 8 against Iceland’s Gudrun Johannsdottir.

Page dismantled Turkey’s Fatma Zehra Kose, 15-5, in the semi-finals before moving on to face the much more experienced Maria Belen Perez Maurice, from Argentina.

The final was a tightly contested bout, with Page pulling out the victory and the gold medal by a score of 15-13.

“Once I got to the finals I had a moment of doubt because the girl in front of me has much more experience and results than me, but once I was on the strip I told myself that this was my home, and that there was nothing stopping me to go for gold.

“Even though it was a small competition, in the final match I really proved to myself that anything is possible and that when I control my emotions and actions I can fence to my full potential. It shows me that the Olympics are possible and closer.”

On the men’s side, Joseph Polossifakis finished 16^th after losing a close bout 15-13 in the table of 16 to American Eli Dershwitz.

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