Another interesting interview on Schermaonline.com this time with Valentina Vezzali, one of the greatest foil fencers ever. Valentina has been on maternity leave since her gold medal at the Athens Olympics. On June 9 she became a mother for the first time of a baby boy named Pietro. What follows are excerpts from the full interview on Schermaonline.com covering her return to competitive fencing as a new mother, her thoughts about current foil fencing and the future.
The Olympic sport of fencing is comprised of three weapons: foil, epee, and sabre. All are fenced on a long rectangular strip, and electronic scoring aids are normally used to assist in the detection of touches.
March 2004. In March 2004, St. Petersburg, Russia, hosted a Grand Prix World Cup for foil. With the Olympics fast approaching, this tournament was a chance for fencers to qualify, or at least finish the season strong. The overall fencing talent represented hundreds of world cup placements, and the "last-train-to-Athens" feel generated enough performance pressure that a deep-sea fish would implode in a succulent red mist.
Walter Flaschka reviewed the proposed foil timings and previewed his thoughts on what would happen to foil once they were implemented. We've now witnessed a few junior level events and finally our first Division I NAC event and can put the observations together. Are these timings good, bad, or just ugly for foil?
Another interesting interview on Schermaonline.com this time with Valentina Vezzali, one of the greatest foil fencers ever. Valentina has been on maternity leave since her gold medal at the Athens Olympics. On June 9 she became a mother for the first time of a baby boy named Pietro. What follows are excerpts from the full interview on Schermaonline.com covering her return to competitive fencing as a new mother, her thoughts about current foil fencing and the future. 
