PERU COMPETES WITH TOP-LEVEL FENCING TEAMS FROM THE AMERICAS

Fencing in the Americas is usually dominated by the USA and Canada. However, the presence of new athletes from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela in the podium of the last Pan American Games has been remarkable. For this reason, Peru’s participation has to be measured based on the evolution of Peruvian fencers with the highest level of demand at Lima 2019. 

Therefore, Paola Gil Piñero advancing to the round of 16 in individual foil and Maria Luisa Doig reaching the épée quarterfinals are two noteworthy achievements. This morning, the action continued with the team competition, though this time Peru's fate was different. The men competed in épée against the strong Venezuelan team, which features the Grimaldo brothers, while the women's team faced off Canada in foil. 

For the Peruvian fencers, it was still an important experience on the road to competitions in the years to come. This was stated by Kusi Rosales, who was part of the women’s foil team and won a bout in the individual preliminary round. 

“Fighting bouts as a team is different from doing it individually, and that takes a lot of practice time. As a team, we are less likely to compete outside, but I feel we have improved. We came up with the idea of doing as many hits as possible and trying to narrow the score gap when someone made a mistake," Kusi said. 

“We know that the Pan American Games always feature the strongest countries at fencing, so this allows us to have the necessary contact to know what level we're at. In most combat sports, the only way to make progress is to face a superior opponent. This type of competitions should be the starting point for promoting this discipline in Peru more," she concluded.