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Ellen O’Leary Wins Gold at Veteran Worlds, Team USA Claims Four Medals in Austria

10/29/2012, 3:00pm CDT
By Nicole Jomantas

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Ellen O’Leary (Decatur, Ga.) has won six medals at the Veteran World Championships in past years, but Friday marked the first time the 71-year-old saber fencer has stood on the top of the podium at the Veteran Worlds.

A silver medalist in the 60-69 saber event in 2009 and 2011, O’Leary competed in the +70 category for the first time in Krems, Austria this weekend.

Seeded second after the pools, O’Leary earned a bye into the quarter-finals where she defeated Ksenia Tadzhieva (RUS), 10-6.

In the semifinals, O’Leary won her bout against Sylvia Brown (GBR), a 1998 Veteran World Champion in the +60 foil event, by a score of 10-3.

O’Leary won the final bout, 10-6, over six-time Veteran World Champion Brigitte Greunke (GER).

Also competing in the event, Una Jackson (Hilton Head, S.C.) lost in the table of 16 to eight-time Veteran World Champion Janet Cooksey (GBR), 10-2.

Sherry Green (Portland, Ore.) was eliminated in the pools.

Team USA’s success in the women’s saber events continued in the 60-69 competition where first-time Veteran World Team member Linda Dunn (Indianapolis, Ind.) and three-time Veteran World Champion Delia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.) both reached the podium.

Turner gave up just seven touches in four pool bouts to earn the top seed in the table of 16. Seeded third after the pools, Dunn was placed on the opposite side of the table.

Both athletes earned byes into the quarter-finals where they each faced British opponents. Dunn defeated Susan Benney, 10-9, and Turner won her bout against 2005 Veteran World medalist Yvonne Walls, 10-4.

In the semifinals, Dunn defeated three-time Veteran World Champion Marguerite Langton (RSA), 10-7.

Turner ended the day with a bronze medal after a 10-9 loss to Iris Gardini (ITA) who won her second title of the tournament after taking gold in the 60-69 epee event on Wednesday.

Dunn claimed the silver medal after being outtouched by Gardini in the final bout, 10-9.

Following her silver medal finish in the foil event on Thursday, Judith Offerle (Winnetka, Ill.) placed seventh in the 60-69 saber. Offerle defeated two-time Veteran World medalist Silvia Earl (GBR), 10-5, but lost in the quarters to Langton, 10-3.

Susan Hurst (San Diego, Calif.) was eliminated in the pools.

Fencing at her second Veteran World Championships, Valerie Asher (Bethesda, Md.) won her first international medal in the women’s 50-59 epee event.

Asher was seeded third in the table of 32 after going 6-0 in the pools.

She opened the direct elimination table with a 10-2 victory over Cledola Tello (BRA). In the table of 16, Asher defeated Miyako Derose (JPN), 10-5.

Although Team USA had two athletes advance to the quarter-finals, Asher and Janice Midgley (Tinton Falls, N.J.) drew each other with the winner of the match securing a medal.

Asher defeated Midgley, 10-4, but lost in the semis to Corine Aubailly (FRA), 10-7. Aubailly would go on to win her second Veteran World title.

A 2010 Veteran World medalist, Marianne Bosco (Harvest, Ala.) won her opening DE bout in the table of 32 over Dominique Elin (FRA), 10-9, but lost in the table of 16 to Astrid Kircheis (GER) by a score of 10-3.

Ellen Finnegan (West Roxbury, Mass.) competed in the 50-59 epee event, but was eliminated in the pools.

In the men’s 50-59 epee, Sean Ameli (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Louis Mariani (Santa Clara, Calif.) each advanced to the table of 32 in a field of 82 fencers.

Ameli won his table of 64 bout against Yoshitsugu Suga (JPN), 10-4, but dropped his next to eventual bronze medalist Jurijus Mashalo (LTU), 10-9.

Mariani defeated Igor Shelamov (RUS), 6-5, in the table of 64, but lost his table of 32 bout, 10-8, to Kerry Anderson (CAN) who defeated Mariani’s teammate, Rick Watrall (Mahwah, N.J.), 10-9, in the previous round.

Walter Dragonetti (Elyria, Ohio), a 2009 Veteran World Champion, lost in the table of 64 to Georg Mittermair (AUS), 10-5.

The following athletes will compete on Saturday:

Veteran Women’s 50-59 Saber
Jane Eyre (Swedesboro, N.J.), two-time Veteran World Champion and five-time medalist
Jeannine Bender (Princeton, N.J.)
Lydia Mazorol (Simi Valley, Calif.), 2011 Veteran World bronze medalist
Chaz Smith (Diamond Springs, Calif.)

Veteran Men’s 60-69 Epee
Jere Bothelio (San Jose, Calif.), 2011 Veteran World silver medalist
Charles Schneider (Novi, Mich.)
Robert Lipp (Los Gatos, Calif.)
Bob Cochrane (Lake Worth, Fla.), two-time Veteran World medalist

Veteran Men’s +70 Epee
Kazimieras Campe (Edgewater, Md.), 1998 Veteran World Champion and two-time medalist
James Adams (Rockville, Md.), five-time Veteran World medalist
Mark Henry (Potomac, Md.)
Marcel Miernik (Irvington, N.Y.), 2010 Veteran World silver medalist

Veteran Women’s +70 Foil
Diane Reckling (White Plains, N.Y.)
Bettie Graham (Washington, D.C.), 2011 Veteran World bronze medalist
Ellen O’Leary (Decatur, Ga.), 2012 Veteran World Champion
Patricia Bedrosian (Malibu, Calif.)

Click here to view complete results.

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:

Women’s 50-59 Epee
1. Corine Aubailly (FRA)
2. Gianna Cirillo (ITA)
3. Valerie Asher (Bethesda, Md.)
3. Dagmar Fischer (GER)
5. Victoria Wilks (AUS)
6. Astrid Kircheis (GER)
7. Janice Midgley (Tinton Falls, N.J.)
8. Ibolya Hoffmann (HUN)

16. Marianne Bosco (Harvest, Ala.)
37. Ellen Finnegan (West Roxbury, Mass.)

Men’s 50-59 Epee
1. Roman Semykoz (UKR)
2. Laszlo Imreh (HUN)
3. Neal Mallett (GBR)
3. Jurijus Mashalo (LTU)
5. Volodymyr Sokolov (UKR)
6. Cosimo Ferro (ITA)
7. Georg Mittermair (AUS)
8. Giacomo Guarnera (BRA)

23. Sean Ameli (Las Vegas, Nev.)
31. Louis Mariani (Santa Clara, Calif.)
44. Rick Watrall (Mahwah, N.J.)
45. Walter Dragonetti (Elyria, Ohio)

Women’s 60-69 Saber
1. Iris Gardini (ITA)
2. Linda Dunn (Indianapolis, Ind.)
3. Marguerite Langton (RSA)
3. Delia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.)
5. Vivien Frith (GBR)
6. Susan Benney (GBR)
7. Judith Offerle (Winnetka, Ill.)
8. Yvonne Walls (GBR)

14. Susan Hurst (San Diego, Calif.)

Women’s +70 Saber
1. Ellen O’Leary (Decatur, Ga.)
2. Brigitte Greunke (GER)
3. Sylvia Brown (GBR)
3. Marie Chantal Demaille (FRA)
5. Irina Bunn (GER)
6. Janet Cooksey (GBR)
7. Yoshiko Tachibana (JPN)
8. Ksenia Tadzhieva (RUS)

11. Una Jackson (Hilton Head, S.C.)
12. Sherry Green (Portland, Ore.)

Tag(s): News  Janice Midgley