USA Fencing

Courtesy NBCSports.com 

Mariel Zagunis, the most decorated fencer in U.S. history with two Olympic gold medals and two individual World Championships, is in a different position than at this point the last Olympic cycle.

In December 2010, Zagunis was the two-time reigning World champion and the reigning Olympic champion.

Now, Zagunis is the reigning World silver medalist and second-ranked sabre fencer in the world. No. 1 is Ukraine’s Olga Kharlan, the two-time reigning World champion who beat Zagunis in the 2012 Olympic bronze-medal match.

Most remember Zagunis for an incredible high at the London Olympics — as the U.S. flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony — and for a disappointment, moved to tears in losing in the sabre semifinals.

Zagunis, a 29-year-old Oregonian, is preparing to make what could be her fourth U.S. Olympic team. The qualifying window begins next spring. She’s competing this weekend at the New York Grand Prix, the first event of the 2014-15 season and largest combined Grand Prix in the sport’s history with more than 300 fencers ... more>