Mexico's Fencers Thrust and Parry for Paris Olympic Dreams
Mexico's six-person fencing team aims for Olympic spots at the Pan American Pre-Olympic Tournament in Costa Rica. Julieta Toledo (sabre), an Olympic veteran, leads alongside rising stars.
The national fencing team made up of six athletes has as its main objective the Pan American Pre-Olympic Tournament to be held this April 6 and 7 in the city of San Jose, Costa Rica, an event that also gives a place to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 for the champions of each weapon in both branches.
Julieta Toledo, Gibran Zea (sabre), María Fernanda Morales, Leandro Sauri (epee), Alely Hernández and Diego Alekce (foil), make up the Mexican team in the search for the six quotas to be distributed through the continental route by the International Fencing Federation (FIE).
Toledo already has Olympic experience in Rio 2016, in addition to having won two bronze medals in the past Pan American Games Santiago 2023 in individual and team competitions.
For his part, Morales Gutierrez stood out with second place in the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023, while Sauri was crowned in the Central American Championship 2022, also in San Salvador.
As for foil, Alely Hernandez climbed the podium at the continental competition in Santiago 2023 in the team event along with Nataly Michel and Melissa Rebolledo, while Diego Cervantes will be the only Mexican fencer in the men's division with Olympic experience, after his debut in Tokyo 2020.
The trials will be held this Saturday starting at 9:00 a.m. Central Mexican time and will begin with women's foil, followed by men's epee and sabre, while for Sunday's session, the men's foil and women's epee and sabre competitions will take place at the San Jose Table Tennis Hall.
According to the Pan American Fencing Confederation, the participating countries include Costa Rica as organizer, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Guyana, Haiti, Virgin Islands, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Mexico.
Mexico's fencers face fierce competition in Costa Rica at the Pan American Pre-Olympic Tournament, with limited Olympic spots on the line. Credit: CONADE
