Fencing Pictures is proud to have Bill Ward on the FP Team! Bill
is a television videographer/ editor specializing in high definition
programming. His work has appeared on The Discovery Channel, HGTV, The
Food Network, PBS and other networks. Bill and his two children,
Rebecca and William, admit to some familiarity with a saber.
St. Petersburg Blog:
Day 2
Piste as Trapeze
When we walked into the arena the day before the 2007 World Championships started here in St. Petersburg, the lighting grid technician was engaging in an activity that would have stopped the heart of any OSHA inspector. The tech eschewed anything as safe as a scissor lift to get over 30 feet high into the rafters of the coliseum. Instead, he climbed hand over hand up a six inch wide, free-hanging flimsy medal ladder, with no safety net anywhere in sight.
In a way, the lighting tech’s high wire trapeze act was like a fore-shadowing metaphor for the US Women’s Saber Squad: when you swing long enough high above the piste…it can be a long way to fall.
On paper…it looked good for the USA when the day started. Rebecca Ward, Mariel Zagunis and Sada Jacobson went 1-2-3 in Torino, and they entered the round of 64 in St. Petersburg ranked 2-3-4 in the world rankings. They were split in separate quadrants, setting up a possible replay of 3 US sabrists in the semi-finals.
Somebody forgot to show the script to the Polish squad.
First, Bogna Jozwiak steamrolls #4 team member Dagmara Wozniak in the round of 32 with a relentless, overwhelming attack that has Dagmara stuck counter-attacking while in full retreat. Jozwiak is the most imposing fencer in women’s saber, standing about 12.5 feet tall. Or at least that’s what it looks like when she comes rumbling down the strip. Dagmara cannot solve the timing, and falls quickly.
Next strip over, Becca is facing off against Alexandra Socha, another Polish fencer who has been an international powerhouse in the past, but has languished in the middle rankings for the last couple of years. Socha, while not quite as long and tall as Jozwiak--only about 7 feet tall or so-- still has a sizable reach advantage on Ward, and uses it well this bout. Socha jumps out to a 4-1 lead, and Becca is forced to play catch-up the entire bout. Down 12-14, Becca saves one match point, and then appears to lose the bout when a thunderous riposte to the head fails to ignite a light. But the replay shows Socha counter-ripostes while off the strip, and it’s 14-all. After a couple of nail-biting simultaneous attacks, the referee decides Socha has snuck in an attack in prep. The video review fails to override the decision, and the 2006 World Champion is done in the round of 32.
Overhead, the trapeze swings empty.
Mariel and Sada make it to the round of 8. Mariel draws Jozwiak, Sada faces the Italian fencer Gioia Marzocca, who ran rough-shod over the American squad in Cuba earlier this year. Sada spots Marzocca a sizable lead at the break, makes a dramatic comeback in the second half, but still falls short. Mariel and Bogna trade points almost all bout long, all the way to 14-14. With a trip to the semis as the lone American there for the taking, Mariel gets caught in prep on a one-lighter, and the USA is done.
Two more abrupt falls from the heights of expectation.
For the Russians, Elena Netchaeva puts on a huge show for the home folks. Normally, Netchaeva shows very little emotion as she wins or loses. But at this World Championships, she finally acts like she cares. She screams, she pumps fists, she turns ankles with dramatic flair, then miraculously recovers to win the bout. She carries the momentum into the gold medal bout against Tan Xue of China, who has been unbeatable all season long, unless she’s up against the USA’s Ward.
Tan may have the home field advantage in the Beijing Olympics, but last night she was competing in Netchaeva’s back yard, and the #1 ranked Chinese fencer had to settle for a silver medal.
By Bill Ward
