Olympics mens epee
 

I had a wonderful day yesterday as a spectator at the British Olympic mens epee, it was lovely to see that British Fencing were supported by so many of our home grown talent; unfortunately they were there as spectator's as I was. It would have been an even greater and better event if we had been able to cheer on a Great Britain epeeist.

I managed to catch the L32s, the semifinals and the finals on the internet (I had it playing in a small window on my PC whilst at work, but sshhh!) and it was cracking stuff. It must have been amazing to see it live. It is a real shame that Britain decided not to field a men's epée team. I think it was probably a poor decision, although of course I don't know all of the reasons or thought behind that decision. I'd be infinitely more cheered and inspired by seeing my country's athletes enter, try their damned hardest and either win or get knocked out than by simply not seeing them at all. I was hoping to see more epée in the team events, but whilst there is a women's epée there is sadly no men's; there is also a lack of women's team sabre. Are these omissions due to Olympic-imposed constraints?

Fully agree with last posts. What an awesome day. Made all the better by being part of the crowd supporting the Venezuelan winner. It got a bit riotous in block 111. Just a shame British Fencing hadn't taken a risk. It was a day where the form book seemed to go out of the window. Now that's what the Olympics is about.

Yes. Each Olympiad one men's team event and one women's is omitted. This stems from when WS was admitted and the IOC made no more medals available.

Hmm, I thought it might be something like that. Is there a world shortage of raw medal ore, or would a critical mass of medals seriously threaten the stability of the universe?

They need it for all the swimming medals

Its the same for most sports though... They reduced the number of cycling events this time round... mianly to stop the UK winning medals... probably take out the rowing events next time...

In all seriousness who could we have put in to the men's epee? Jonathan Willis is our top epeeist in the international rankings (86th) and he is 31, it wouldn't be an investment for the future and sadly his chances of a medal would be quite low. After that nobody else is in double figures. Sure we could have used a wild card place on one of these people but do they honestly have more potential than one of those already selected?

in this situation you put in the best you have (31 isn't old for epee) & have the guts, faith, patriotism & conviction to believe that their abilities would be further enhanced by the fabulous support provided by the home crowd

I was almost rendered speechless by the epee (non) selections & cannot accept that it would have happened in any other sport.

jon & Georgina deserved to be there and having watched the ME (with one of tomorrows prospects on the edge of his seat over a Norwegian) I honestly believe that JW might well have gone far

So who would you have taken the place off?

Dude, you're demonstrating a lack of the context to make this statement. go and read JW's history, results and cooperation from BF. Start with the whole of the guess the wildcards thread.

First off, don't call me dude. Again who would you have dropped from selection? The obvious choice being Bentley but that would mean no team entries. Sorry you don't like it but that is the way it is, there were a limited amount of places.

As an epeeist I would love to have seen us fielding some GBR fencers in the epee but I do not think it would have been a wise use of a wild card place.

Don't know much about epee do you?

And without waking the beast. The answer to your last question is yes.

ME?? No-one - I cant fence! http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/biggrin.png

I dont think it would be fa ir to go down that path with the team members on a low at the moment and the mens' team foil still to come

Well I only fence epee so it is the weapon I concentrate on. Skill wise, I would say I am average. So please stop trying to patronise just because you disagree with my opinion.

Gav - the beast is awake, it's just crouched ready to pounce with its jaws shut and tapping its claws by its keyboard until after Sunday - cant you feel it breathing heavily?

2 women's foil, one women's sabre. 2 extras into women's epee, one into men's epee.

(In all seriousness who could we have put in to the men's epee)

In my personal opinion as a spectator to a lot of fencing tournaments and finals within the UK, it would be difficult to chose from the talent we have, there are so many to chose from; there is definitely talent there and they should not have been overlooked, I feel saddened by this.

Again, you don't understand enough context here and you need to read the discussions that have happened already. No attempt at being patronising, I assure you, but saying stuff like look at current ranking and age shows your ignorance here. Read about him winning Heidenheim A-grade in 2007 then getting repeatedly messed around by BF, dropped from funding, not selected for the team or major championships, training full time in Germany etc.

I would have dropped the WFT (maybe keep AB), LBW and SW in favour of JW, JH, and two of CN, PM, AOC or possibly AB.

coming 8th out of 8 never sounded like a cause for celebration or qualification to me - more like an opportunity to be grateful trhat there weren't more teams competing!

I would still have given Corrinne some company with a place for Georgina as she has shown such huge determination which would undoubtedly have been reflected in performance at this tournament