USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Nearly 2,000 fencers, including hopefuls for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team, will be competing at the January North American Cup in Louisville, Ky. from Jan. 18-21.

Competition will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center and is free and open to the public.

The tournament will include events in each of the three weapons – epee, foil and saber – and will serve as a key part of the selection for the teams that will compete at the Junior and Cadet World Championships in April.

Each of the events will hold competition in Junior (U20), Cadet (U17) and Y-14 categories.

Among the fencers competing this weekend are 22 athletes from throughout Kentucky, including 2012 Cadet World Team member Axel Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.)

The 16-year-old foil fencer is the #3-ranked cadet (U17) fencer in the nation and trains at the Bluegrass Fencers Club under 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Coach Amgad Khazbak (Lexington, Ky.) Kiefer, whose father fenced at Duke University, is the youngest member of a fencing family that includes his older sisters Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.), a 2012 Olympian and 2011 Senior World medalist, and Alexandra Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) who won the 2011 NCAA Championships as a freshman at Harvard University.

Kiefer, who will compete in both the U17 and U20 foil events, will be joined by 17 of his teammates from the 2012 Junior and Cadet World Championships, including the following medalists:

·        Michael Dudey (Bellaire, Texas / Junior Foil), 2012 Junior World Team Champion

·        Audrey Abend (New York City, N.Y.  / Junior Epee), 2012 Junior World Team bronze medalist

·        Sara Taffel (New York City, N.Y. / Junior Foil), 2012 Cadet World silver medalist

·        Jessie Radanovich (Tollhouse, Calif. / Junior Epee), 2012 Cadet World bronze medalist

·        Skyla Powers (Decatur, Ga. / Junior Saber), 2012 Cadet World bronze medalist

·        Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J. / Junior Saber), 2012 Cadet World bronze medalist

·        Alexander Eldeib (Burke, Va. / Junior Epee), 2012 Cadet World bronze medalist

Results will be updated live throughout the tournament at www.usfencing.org.

The competition schedule is as follows (Note: times listed are approximate start times. Competition will continue through completion of the gold medal round):

Friday, Jan. 18
8:30 a.m.
Cadet Men’s Foil
Y-14 Men’s Epee

11 a.m.
Cadet Women’s Saber

2 p.m.
Junior Women’s Foil

Saturday, Jan. 19
8:30 a.m.
Junior Men’s Epee
Y-14 Women’s Saber

12:30 p.m.
Cadet Men’s Saber

2 p.m.
Junior Women’s Epee
Y-14 Men’s Foil

Sunday, Jan. 20
8:30 a.m.
Junior Men’s Foil
Junior Women’s Saber

11 a.m.
Y-14 Women’s Epee

2 p.m.
Cadet Women’s Foil

2:30 p.m.
Y-14 Men’s Saber

Monday, Jan. 21
8:30 a.m.
Junior Men’s Saber
Cadet Men’s Epee
Y-14 Women’s Foil

2 p.m.
Cadet Women’s Epee

About USA Fencing

USA Fencing is the recognized National Governing Body for the sport of fencing in the United States. USA Fencing is affiliated with the Federation Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), the international federation for fencing. A 501-c-3 non-profit organization, USA Fencing is based out of Colorado Springs, Colo. and has a membership of more than 20,000 individuals, including grassroots, elite and veteran fencers. For more information, visitwww.usfencing.org, www.facebook.com/usfencing or www.twitter.com/usfencing. 

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