USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA concluded the Pan American Games in Toronto with gold in the men’s team foil and silver in women’s team foil on Saturday for a total of 14 medals won over six days.

Team USA won the fencing medal count with gold medals in nine of 12 events and beat Venezuela and Canada out for the top spot in the medal standings as both nations earned six medals each.

In the men’s foil event, Team USA entered the Pan American Games with a seven-year streak of being undefeated in Pan Am competition.

The former No. 1-ranked team in the world included all three members of the team that won gold at the 2011 Pan Am Games.

Seeded first in the field, Team USA boasted a lineup of three Senior World medalists: Alex Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) who won silver last week, two-time bronze medalist Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif.) and 2013 Senior World Champion Miles Chamley-Watson (New York City, N.Y.) Massialas and Meinhardt won gold and silver in the individual events at the Pan Am Games and were aiming to add another title to the team’s collection.

In the quarter-finals, the U.S. athletes gave up one touch or less in each of five bouts before Massialas anchored the squad to a 45-16 victory.

Massialas gave up just three total touches in the semifinals against Chile as Team USA finished the match, 45-18.

Fencing Brazil for the second time in a week after winning their last match in Moscow just a week ago, all three U.S. fencers posted wins against 2014 Seoul World Cup medalist Guilherme Toldo with Massialas opening with a 5-1 win in the first period and Meinhardt shutting out the Brazilian, 5-0, in the fourth. Chamley-Watson scored eight on Toldo in the eighth to put Team USA ahead by 15 touches at 40-25. Massialas outscored Brazilian anchor Ghislain Perrier, 5-1, I the ninth for a 45-26 win.

In the women’s event, the United States came into the team competition with individual champion Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) and bronze medalist Nicole Ross (New York City, N.Y.) joined by Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who didn’t fence the individual competition in Toronto, but did win bronze at the Senior Worlds.

With Ross as anchor, Team USA won all nine bouts in the quarter-finals to defeat Cuba, 45-19.

The Americans won or tied every bout in the semis against Brazil to qualify for the finals with a 45-26 victory.

Team USA would fence Canada in the finals – a rivalry that has taken the stage at every Pan American Championships and Games since 2008.

Despite Kiefer posting 25 touches over three bouts, Canada led the U.S. team, 34-33, after the eighth bout. Ross tied the score in the ninth at 37, but two-time Junior World silver medalist Eleanor Harvey scored the last touch in overtime to win the match, 38-37.

Click here to view complete results.  

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

Pan American Games Men’s Team Foil
1. USA
2. Brazil
3. Mexico
4. Venezuela
5. Canada
6. Colombia
7. Chile
8. Puerto Rico

Pan American Games Women’s Team Foil
1. Canada
2. USA
3. Mexico
4. Brazil
5. Venezuela
6. Cuba
7. Argentina
8. Chile