According to Michael Charlebois of the Canadian Olympic Committee on Monday, two Canadian fencers won World Cup bronze medals this past weekend. Ruien Xiao of Markham, Ontario won the bronze medal in the women’s epee at a World Cup fencing event in Vancouver, British Columbia on Saturday, while Jessica Guo of Toronto, Ontario won the bronze medal in the women’s foil at a World Cup in Novi Sad, Serbia on Friday.
There is great excitement with the state of Canadian fencing at the moment. Guo is only 18 years of age, and Xiao is 16 years old.
In Vancouver, Coraline Vitalis of France won the gold medal and Isabel Di Tella of Argentina won the silver medal. However the biggest story was Xiao, who was ranked 54th out of 64 competitors, and won bronze alongside Camille Nabeth of France. To reach the semifinals. Xiao beat the 11th seed Rossella Fiamingo of Italy in the first round 15-10, the 43rd seed Pauline Brunner of Switzerland in the second round 13-12, the 27th seed Junyao Tang of China in the round of 16 by a score of 12-11, and the 46th seed Miho Yoshimura of Japan in the quarterfinals, 13-12.
In Novi Sad, Guo shared the bronze medal with Leonie Ebert of Germany. Alice Volpi of Italy won the gold medal and Lee Kiefer of the United States won the silver medal. Guo, who was ranked 14th, beat Emilia Corbu of Romania 14-12 in the first round, Serena Rossini of Italy 15-7 in the second round, the third seed Martini Batini of Italy by a score of 15-14 in the round of 16, and Lauren Scruggs of the United States 15-11 in the quarterfinals. The medals for Guo and Xiao will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
