Zagunis wins gold, leads U.S. sweep in fencing event

Zagunis wins gold, leads U.S. sweep in fencing event

BEIJING — Once again Mariel Zagunis entered the Olympics a bit under the radar. Once again she left with a gold medal.

RESULTS: U.S. medal winners

Zagunis not only won the first U.S. gold medal of these Olympics in women's individual sabre on Saturday but the U.S. also recorded a coveted sweep. "For me it was a dream come true. I couldn't have asked for a better result. Three American flags being raised," said Zagunis, who wiped a tear streaming down her cheek as the National Anthem ended. Then she joined her two teammates to shake the hand of former president George Bush who watched from the stands.

Zagunis, of Beaverton, Ore., defended the gold medal she won at the 2004 Games by defeating teammate Sada Jacobson of Dunwoody, Ga. 15-8 in the gold medal match.

Jacobson, the No. 1 seed, took the silver. No. 2 seed Becca Ward of Portland, Ore., assured the sweep by coming back from a 6-1 deficit to defeat No. 6 Sofiya Velikaya of Russia, 15-14, and claim the bronze.
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PISTE LESSON: How to watch fencing at the Olympics

It marks the first time a country has swept the medals in an individual fencing event since Germany did it in women's foil at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. It's the U.S.'s first claim of all three medals since Athens in 2004 in the men's 200 and 400 meters in track and field.

Zagunis entered these Olympics as the No. 6 seed in the shadow of her two teammates who had superior seasons. She hadn't impressed much at Grand Prix competitions — "From January to June, I didn't have the best season of my life," said Zagunis — but rose to the occasion on Saturday night.

"She is a true champion," said Jacobson. "She achieves in the clutch. She didn't have the kind of season she wanted. But she won the big one for all the marbles."

In 2004, Zagunis pulled off one of the surprises of those Games by becoming the first U.S. fencer in 100 years to win a gold. She was a late addition to the U.S. squad for Athens, only added after Nigeria decided not to send its representative; Zagunis was next in line according to her world ranking.

"I think at Athens people thought, 'She came out of nowhere, she's a big underdog,' " Zagunis said. "But going into Athens I wanted to win as much as anyone else and I expected to win. ... Going into this one, I wasn't even No. 1. It's all about the day and how you approach the competition. ... It comes down to winning the big one, the one that counts the most."

The Zagunis family is full of high-achieving athletes. Her parents Bob and Cathy were members of the 1976 U.S. Olympic rowing team. Her oldest brother, Marten, who fenced at Penn State, introduced her to the sport at age 10.

Zagunis decided to take time off Notre Dame to train for these games with her club, Oregon Fencing Alliance, where Ward also trains. She's also going to take the fall semester off and is not sure of her future fencing plans.

However, after the team event on Thursday, where the U.S. will again be favored, it's back to school for the two other medalists. Ward is headed to Duke for her freshman year. "I'll be fencing four years for Duke and we'll see what happens for that, if I make a run for London (2012 Olympics) or I gain 15 pounds and become a normal college student, we'll see."

Jacobson is headed to law school at Michigan, joining her fiancee Brendan Baby, a U.S. epee fencer who will be attending business school there.

"This is my last hurrah for fencing," Jacobson said. "I hope the team event goes well, that's the future for me (law school) unless I can't stand it and have to go for London as well."

For the moment, though, the three medalists are the "It" girls of this Olympics, as they will make the rounds of all the morning TV shows this weekend, celebrating a remarkable feat in a sport that rarely gains any sort of national attention.

Now even President Bush is fan. As the three athletes stood nearby with tears in their eyes, Bush handed Jacobson his hankerchief. After wiping her face, she handed it back and then he pretended to wipe his own cheeks. Not bad. A hankerchief from a former Commander in Chief.

"I probably should have kept that, now that I think of it," Jacobson said with a laugh. But in truth, she and her U.S. teammates has something far more valuable, a complete set of gold, silver and bronze