The two Canadian fencing teams that were in action Friday played the role of underdogs at the Pan American Games in Santiago. Both opposed the United States in the final, however, they failed to cause an upset and received silver for their respective arms.
Four years ago, at the Pan American Games in Lima, the United States won 10 of the 12 gold medals up for grabs in fencing. In Santiago, our southern neighbors now have eight of the top ten places with two events to go.
On Friday, in both men’s foil and women’s sabre, the Canadian teams did not shoot up to their expectations in the grand final and finished on the second step of the podium.
The foilists were the first to go for a gold medal. They faced tough opponents that they know quite well, namely those of the American team ranked second in the world. The three fencers who made it up, Gerek Meinhardt, Nick Itkin and Miles Chamley Watson, are respectively 2e6e and 16e in the world to the individual.
In the Canadian camp, Maximilien Van Haaster is the highest ranked athlete at 34e world rank.
It was he who got the ball rolling in the final on Friday evening.
The game was interrupted while the Quebecer was trailing 4-2, his opponent’s foil having damaged his protective glove. Meinhardt scored a fifth hit to end the round right after the restart.
Blake Broszus and Patrick Liu followed, then when Van Haaster returned to the floor, his team was trailing 20-10 and he lost 5-2. The United States cruised to a convincing 45-19 victory to capture gold.
“We see with this score, our performance is quite disappointing. Mine in particular, in this match against the United States. I can shoot much better,” Maximilien Van Haaster told Sportcom.
“I haven’t demonstrated everything I can do. The rest of the day was good, but this final was disappointing. I’m not able to explain it at the moment. »
Double bronze medalist from the Pan American Games in Lima, the Montrealer only landed in Santiago on Thursday. He celebrated his daughter’s first birthday on Tuesday, the day of the individual foil tournament, before flying to Chile.
“It’s an improvement every time. I think if you look at my three Pan American Games, the whole team is always different. We have a replacement and that is encouraging for the future in Canada,” mentioned the Olympian of the Rio and Tokyo Games.
The Canadian team defeated Colombia 45-13 at the start of the competition, then won 45-41 against Brazil in the semi-final.
“That’s the positive point of the day. Opponents against whom there have always been very close clashes for 10 years. It feels good at least to have beaten them. We were all strong against them. »
The same story
This duel was followed by another opposition between Canada and the United States, this time in women’s sabre. Quebecer Paméla Brind’Amour represented the maple leaf alongside Marissa Jayne Ponich and Tamar Gordon.
Brind’Amour was the first to hit the track and was defeated 5-2 by Magda Skarbonkiewicz, 9e in the world to this weapon. The Canadians experienced some difficulties at the start of the match, then had good moments which gave hope at the halfway point.
“It wasn’t our best meeting. We started badly and it was difficult to come back. The gap was really big and it was hard for us to win the entire match,” shared Paméla Brind’Amour in the mixed zone.
The saber from Sainte-Martine notably signed her best performance during her second face-to-face in this final, scoring no less than ten hits against five against Alexis Anglade. She thus reduced the Americans’ lead to 25-18.
Too little, too late for the Canadian troops, who were unable to recover and ultimately lost 45-29.
“They were the favorites, but we had our chances of winning. I think we were capable of doing it, it’s just a shame how we started. »
Brind’Amour still notes positives in Friday’s performance. During the last Pan American Championships which took place in June, she and her teammates took 5e rank, eliminated by the Mexican sabers.
They were entitled to their revenge in Santiago by winning 45-39 in the semi-final.
“There is an improvement!” We shot well throughout the day. There was just one in the final where we escaped here and there, but it was still a positive day. »
The fencing events will end on Saturday in Santiago with the men’s saber and women’s epee team tournaments. Sabers Farès Arfa, François Cauchon and Shaul Gordon will represent Canada for the occasion, as will Alexanne Verret on the women’s side.