The British Olympic Association (BOA) has today announced seven athletes as officially selected to represent Team GB in fencing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In the last three years British Fencing have won 13 World Cup medals and claimed four European Championship podium places, including Britain’s first major championships team medal in three decades.
Team GB will compete in all three fencing disciplines - epee, foil and sabre - on the Olympic programme, at the ExCel in London Docklands.
The selected athletes are:
- Louise Bond-Williams - Women’s Sabre
- James Davis - Men’s Foil
- James Honeybone - Men’s Sabre
- Richard Kruse - Men’s Foil
- Corinna Lawrence - Women’s Epee
- Natalia Sheppard - Women’s Foil
- Sophie Williams - Women’s Sabre
In the women’s foil event, Olympic debutant Natalia Sheppard has been selected to represent Team GB in London.
She said: “I am so thrilled and proud at my selection for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games. This has only been made possible with the support of my coach Maciej Wojtkowiak and the strong back up team that now exists.
“Qualification is only the start of what we are aiming to achieve this summer and we look forward to showing the rest of the world just how far we have come.”
Eleven-time British Champion and double Commonwealth Junior Champion Corinna Lawrence is the only athlete selected for the epee event, with Louise Bond-Williams, who represented Great Britain at the Athens 2004 Olympics, and Sophie Williams selected for the sabre.
The Team GB fencing squad will consist of ten athletes in total, the Olympic selection for this sport is a two-stage process and three additional athletes to take part in the foil team events will be confirmed at a later date.
Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt said: “I am delighted to welcome the seven fencing athletes as official members of Team GB.
“The fencing squad announced today has a good balance of youth and experience. It is exciting to select four fencers aged 21 and under. These young athletes have a great opportunity to compete at an Olympic Games in the early stages of their career and their potential bodes well for the future of British fencing.”
The addition of the fencing athletes brings the total number of athletes officially selected to Team GB for London 2012 to 128 across thirteen sport disciplines: archery, athletics – marathon, badminton boxing, canoe slalom, fencing, hockey, sailing, shooting, swimming, synchronised swimming and table tennis.
The athletes were formally nominated to the BOA for selection to Team GB by British Fencing, the National Governing Body for fencing in the UK. Richard Kruse qualified through his world ranking and Natalia Sheppard through the European Zonal event. The other fencers selected today are utilising host nation places.
Sportsister,
The Women’s Sports Magazine
