Olympic Fencing

We managed to get a couple of sets of fencing tickets for the 2012 games here in London thanks to a lucky draw in the initial ticket lottery as well as an unlucky friend who was unable to attend (thanks Robert!).  I convinced Danni to join me for the medal bouts of the men’s foil early in the week in hopes that she’d enjoy it enough to be my date for the men’s team foil finals a few days later.

The venue was stunning; lit up like a futuristic battle arena awaiting the combatants to arrive and cross blades on an elevated, multi-coloured dueling platform.  I couldn’t have been more excited!

I was too worried about being denied entrance to the venue if I brought my big camera & lenses, so for the first event I limited myself to a little point and shoot.  I needn’t have worried though, there were plenty of SLR cameras in the stands.  I may have missed out on getting some good images that first day, but not having a bit camera let me fully immerse myself in the fencing at hand.  Which was good, as it was fast, furious and thrilling to watch!

China was the eventual winner of the individual bouts which got Danni hooked enough to want to come back and watch the team events.  It was a good thing the individual bouts were first as they were full of drama, excitement and close matches.  The team events were all fairly one sided and the question of the eventual winners never really came up.

Italy wins gold!

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed both days and was really happy to get some nice photos of Olympic caliber fencing.  It was awe-inspiring and humbling to watch, and made me wish I was much more strict with my own personal training schedule.  Maybe 2016 will be my year…

More images in the gallery.

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