Women's Sabre Questions

[achilleus]

First off, Congrats to Mariel and Sada. Truly a great achievement.

Now, my thoughts and questions:

1) Sada got a lot of press, was ranked #1 and everybody expected her to win. Mariel, overlooked and a dark horse qualifier wins. Some friends commented that Sada looked tight, whereas Mariel was loose and relaxed.

a) How much do you think that the media attention they received affected their performance?

b) How much do you think their position affected their mental state and performance (Sada expected to win; Mariel didn't qualify)

2) Should the USFA thank Nigeria?

3) Will this lead to an overall, sustained increase in overall US fencing? Or will it lead to either short term gain, or perhaps just a gain in WS?

4) Will the US fencers be able to keep up and retain their dominant status in WS for at least the next Olympics?

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by achilleus

First off, Congrats to Mariel and Sada. Truly a great achievement.

Now, my thoughts and questions:

1) Sada got a lot of press, was ranked #1 and everybody expected her to win. Mariel, overlooked and a dark horse qualifier wins. Some friends commented that Sada looked tight, whereas Mariel was loose and relaxed.

a) How much do you think that the media attention they received affected their performance?

My 2 cents here:

Anyone who's under that kind of scrutiny has a lot of pressure to deal with...it's very difficult to NOT let it get to you, and Sada's still young and fresh enolugh to the top levels to not be able to brush it off easily, although she certainly handles it better than most.

My 2 cents here:b) How much do you think their position affected their mental state and performance (Sada expected to win; Mariel didn't qualify)

See above...Sada had the weight of the entire nation on her shoulders, whether she wanted it or not...certainly all of US expected the #1 seed to win. Mariel was ignored until she reached the semis, and by that time the focus was still on Sada.

2) Should the USFA thank Nigeria? )

You know....I WANT to say yes, but frankly I think they were damnned stupid NOT to send their best fencer to represent them because they were afraid she'd be the next Eddie the Eagle (even though people loved Eddie just for trying). Mariel's lack of presence certainly would'de changed the initial seeding. It's possible Sada would've had a different series of opponents and won the gold anyway. we'll never know.

3) Will this lead to an overall, sustained increase in overall US fencing? Or will it lead to either short term gain, or perhaps just a gain in WS?

Too early to tell, but fencing IS getting a lot of airplay at various levels. I suspect any increase will happen after the Games are over. I also think any increase will be an overall thing, not just in sabre (although we can hope)

4) Will the US fencers be able to keep up and retain their dominant status in WS for at least the next Olympics?

I believe so. High level women's sabre is new to fencing, not just the Olympics, there just hasn't been enough time for a really deep field to develop like the other weapons. Having 3 of the top 10 being from the US with more on the way shoudl give an advantage for a time....perhaps as long as 2008, as our big 3 are young and will have that much mroe time to scope out developing competitors while working and maturing their own games.

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by achilleus

a) How much do you think that the media attention they received affected their performance?

b) How much do you think their position affected their mental state and performance (Sada expected to win; Mariel didn't qualify)

Not much. I think Tan just 'had Sada's number' in that particular bout. Up until that point they had done equally well. World rankings are about as meaningful as USFA ratings---look at the Men's Sabre results.

2) Should the USFA thank Nigeria?

Profusely.

3) Will this lead to an overall, sustained increase in overall US fencing? Or will it lead to either short term gain, or perhaps just a gain in WS?

I think any gains will be transitory. Mere awareness is not enough to overcome all of the barriers which still remain, such as the difficulty level and the long, flat learning curve for fencing---not something with which most people are prepared to deal. It's an immediate-gratification world.

4) Will the US fencers be able to keep up and retain their dominant status in WS for at least the next Olympics?

I think yes. Given the same coaches and good human material to work with, I don't see why not.

[Boo Boo]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

You know....I WANT to say yes, but frankly I think they were damnned stupid NOT to send their best fencer to represent them because they were afraid she'd be the next Eddie the Eagle (even though people loved Eddie just for trying). Mariel's lack of presence certainly would'de changed the initial seeding. It's possible Sada would've had a different series of opponents and won the gold anyway. we'll never know.

From what I have heard, Nigeria was under PRESSURE from the FIE/USA to drop their fencer because it would allow Mariel to qualify. If this is the case, it is really bad - not part fo the Olympic spirit at all...

...yes, the better fencer did get to go, but if you are going to have these zonal qualifying rules, you should stick to them...

Imagine if you had qualified for the Olympics and then had that place snatched away from you?

Boo

[oso97]

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

From what I have heard, Nigeria was under PRESSURE from the FIE/USA to drop their fencer because it would allow Mariel to qualify. If this is the case, it is really bad - not part fo the Olympic spirit at all...

Source please?

[Boo Boo]

Somebody in the committee of my fencing federation. I have no reason to disbelieve them.

Boo

[Rolls]

One thing that I think is almost guaranteed is that you'll see women's saber AND women's team saber become PERMANENT parts of the olympics. I wouldn't at all be surprised if the IOC decided to give fencing the two extra metals so that there could be team/individual events in all weapons/genders.

The great tragedy of this Olympics is that there wasn't a women's saber team event.

Rolls.

[dekko]

There is no question this is great for American fencing in general I just hope the USFA doesn't turn Mariel and Sada into 'dancing bears' for everyone's amusment.

I have no problem with them being hilighted in different ads and such but I hope it is limited to that.

Just out of curiousity, this may have been discusses but, why wasn't the #3 fencer in the world in this event not qualified until the Nigerian pulled out?

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by dekko

There is no question this is great for American fencing in general I just hope the USFA doesn't turn Mariel and Sada into 'dancing bears' for everyone's amusment.

I have no problem with them being hilighted in different ads and such but I hope it is limited to that.

Just out of curiousity, this may have been discusses but, why wasn't the #3 fencer in the world in this event not qualified until the Nigerian pulled out?

She hadn't initially qualified because at the time of the qualification cutoff (april, I believe), Emily was higher than here. Sada went as the #1 in the world, and then Emily was added for being the highest in the Americas zone. Since that cutoff, Mariel has done quite well, including winning a world cup event, so she greatly increased her world ranking, though it was too late... at least that's how I understand it.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by dekko

Just out of curiousity, this may have been discusses but, why wasn't the #3 fencer in the world in this event not qualified until the Nigerian pulled out?

She missed out by 2 world cup points to Emily during the qualification period. After the qualification closed is when she won the WC in Germany and lept up to a #4 world ranking.

It's all detailed on my "Road to Athens" articles where I went over all of the qualification paths for women's sabre. (In the Olympic news section at www.fencing101.com, dated end of March.)

Craig