USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Jane Eyre (Woolwich Twp, N.J.) returned to the top step of the podium on the penultimate day of the Veteran World Championships in Livorno, Italy, winning her seventh individual Veteran World Championship gold medal on Saturday and the title in 60-69 women’ saber for the fifth time in the last six years.

Delia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.) earned the silver, her third consecutive podium finish, in an All-American final while Anna Mannino (Oceanside, Calif.) brought home the bronze in the +70 women’s saber event.

Securing her 11th individual career Vet World medal, Eyre went 5-0 in pools to take the No. 3 seed in the direct elimination rounds, where she started with a quick 10-2 victory over Angela Findlay (GBR). After controlling her table of 16 bout against Maria Teresa Conconi (ITA), 10-5, the 15-time Veteran World Championship Team member advanced to the final with a 10-8 victory over Claudia Bandieri (ITA) and a 10-7 win against Jane Hutchison (GBR).

On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Turner cruised into the table of 16, defeating Isobel Ellis (AUS) and Yvonne Elizabeth Walls (GBR) by 10-1 scores.

A three-time individual Vet World Champion, Turner would be tested in the next two rounds, but nevertheless, like Eyre, she guaranteed her 11th individual medal at Vet Worlds by outtouching Jujie Luan (CAN), 10-9, before edging out Yoshiko Chikubu (JPN), 10-8.

In the final, Eyre took a 5-1 lead at the break, but Turner scored three straight to start the second period. With a tight 8-7 lead, Eyre scored to come within one point of victory. Turner continued to fight, earning the touch to stay alive at 9-8, but Eyre closed out the bout, taking the winning touch for a 10-8 victory and her sixth straight podium finish.

Two-time Vet World medalist Linda Dunn (Greenfield, Ind.) claimed a top-eight finish. She overpowered Corinne Aubailly (FRA) and Isabelle Molko (FRA) by 10-4 scores, but had her day ended in the quarter-finals with a 10-3 loss to Hutchison.

Hutchison also eliminated Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Middletown, Conn.)

Starks-Faulkner, who competed in foil on Thursday and holds seven individual Vet World medals between the foil and saber events, defeated Tatiana Goryunova (RUS), 10-7, in the 32, but lost to Hutchison, 10-7, in the following round.

Competing at her first Vet Worlds, Mannino won bronze in veteran +70 women’s saber. Mannino clinched a medal with a 10-6 win against Susan Uff (GBR) and a 10-5 victory over Brigitte Martin (FRA). However, in the semifinals, she ran into Marie Chantal Demaille (FRA), who had secured her third medal of the tournament, and lost, 10-5.

Demaille also overcame 10-time individual Vet World medalist Ellen O’Leary (Seattle, Wash.) in the table of 16 by a score of 10-7.

A bronze medalist at the 2016 Vet Worlds, Diane Hiatt (Sparks, Nev.) earned a top-16 finish, coming up short to Brigitte Greunke (GER), 10-8.

Two-time Veteran World Championship silver medalist Susan Hurst (San Diego, Calif.) also competed, but she fell in the table of 32, 10-7, to Martine Schirmer (FRA).

In the women’s 50-59 saber event, 2012 silver medalist Chaz Smith (Placerville, Calif.) claimed a top-eight result.

Smith followed up a 10-4 victory over Rosario Urbano (ESP) in the table of 32 with a 10-6 win over Grace Born (CAN). However, in the quarters, Smith lost to Friederike Janshen (GER), 10-4.

A six-time Veteran World Championship Team member, Robin Pernice (Carlisle, Mass.) gave up just two points against Christine Zoppke (GER), 10-2, but dropped her table of 16 bout to Dorothea Tanzmeister (AUT), 10-6.

Competing at her second Vet Worlds, Dawn Wilson (Louisville, Ky.) earned her second straight top-16 finish, posting a 10-5 victory over Concetta Talamo (ITA), 10-5, before falling to Harriet Jordan (AUS), 10-4.

Kimberly Klein-Braddock (West Linn, Ore.) finished in the top 32 at her first Vet Worlds as she lost to Monica Stocco (ITA), 10-7, in the 32.

The final individual men’s event of the tournament, men’s 50-59 épée, saw 1992 Olympian and first-time Vet World Team member Chris O’Loughlin (Jersey City, N.J.) earn a seventh-place finish.

O’Loughlin bested Karoly Szalay (HUN), 10-7, in the table of 64 and advanced to the table of 16 with a 10-6 victory over Volodymyr Sokolov (UKR).

There, O’Loughlin overcame Marco Longo (GER), 10-5, but he missed out on a medal with a 10-7 loss to Evgeny Belousov (RUS).

O’Loughlin’s teammate at the 1992 Games, Jon Normile (Nillburn, N.J.) defeated Sandor Szakmary (HUN), 10-7, in the 64 and Gautier Chatelus (FRA), 10-6, in the 32, before falling to Guido Quanz (GER), 10-5.

A five-time Vet World Team member, Sean Ameli (Las Vegas, Nev.) also earned a top-16 finish.

He started the direct elimination rounds with 10-4 victories over Johan Bauwelinck (BEL) and Carl-Henrik Wendt (SWE) in the table of 128 and 64, respectively and advanced to the 16 by outtouching Eric Grand D’Hauteville (SUI), 6-5. However, he was edged out in the 16 by Belousov, 10-8.

John Varney (Issaquah, Wash.) also competed, narrowly dropping his table of 128 bout to Nady Bilani (BEL), 9-8.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Veteran World Championships Women’s 60-69 Saber
1. Jane Eyre (Woolwich Twp, N.J.)
2. Delia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.)
3. Yoshiko Chikubu (JPN)
3. Jane Hutchison (GBR)
5. Karin Jansen (GER)
6. Claudia Bandieri (ITA)
7. Linda Dunn (Greenfield, Ind.)
8. Jujie Luan (CAN)

12. Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Middletown, Conn.)

Veteran World Championships Women’s +70 Saber
1. Marie Chantal Demaille (FRA)
2. Silvia Brown (GBR)
3. Iris Gardini (ITA)
3. Anna Mannino (Oceanside, Calif.)
5. Vivien Ena Frith (GBR)
6. Brigitte Martin (FRA)
7. Brigitte Greunke (GER)
8. Yoshiko Tachibana (JPN)

10. Ellen O’Leary (Seattle, Wash.)
11. Diane Hiatt (Sparks, Nev.)

18. Susan Hurst (San Diego, Calif.)

Veteran World Championships Women’s 50-59 Saber
1. Dorothea Tanzmeister (AUT)
2. Friederike Janshen (GER)
3. Gabriella Lo Muzio (ITA)
3. M. Jose Padura (ESP)
5. Harriet Jordan (AUS)
6. Chaz Smith (Placerville, Calif.)
7. Angela De Rioja (ESP)
8. Michele Narey (GBR)

13. Robin Pernice (Carlisle, Mass.)
14. Dawn Wilson (Louisville, Ky.)
17. Kimberly Klein-Braddock (West Linn, Ore.)

Veteran World Championships Men’s 50-59 Épée
1. Thierry Calambe (FRA)
2. Evgeny Belousov (RUS)
3. Richard Larsson (SWE)
3. Guido Quanz (GER)
5. Cosimo Ferro (ITA)
6. Thomas Brudy-Zippelius (GER)
7. Chris O’Loughlin (Jersey City, N.J.)
8. Alessandro Di Bella (ITA)

11. Jon Normile (Nillburn, N.J.)
15. Sean Ameli (Las Vegas, Nev.)
71. John Varney (Issaquah, Wash.)