FENCING: Mariel Zagunis Claims Bronze in Post-Olympic Return, Team USA Wins Gold

It has been more than seven months since the world has seen two-time Olympic Champion Mariel Zagunis in competition.

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It has been more than seven months since the world has seen two-time Olympic Champion Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) in competition.

For a fencer who burst onto the international stage at age 15, qualifying for Senior, Junior and Cadet World Teams in 2000, Zagunis has not been away from international competition in nearly 17 years.

With four Olympic medals to her name over four Games, including two individual golds in 2004 and 2008 and team bronzes in 2008 and 2016, some wondered if Zagunis would come back after Rio.

Would the most decorated fencer in U.S. history take a break and then retire?

The answer to that question came on Saturday when Zagunis returned to the international circuit at the Yangzhou Saber World Cup in China.

Ranked just eighth in the world after missing the first four events of the season, Zagunis showed she wasn't back just to fence - she wanted to be back on the podium.

Seeded fifth in Yangzhou and exempt from pools on Friday, Zagunis held her first two opponents to single digits on Saturday. After a 15-5 win over Marino Kimura (JPN) in the table of 64, Zagunis defeated Ying Fu (CHN), 15-7, in the 32.

In the table of 16, Zagunis fenced 2015 European Games medalist Margaux Rifkiss (FRA), taking an 8-5 lead at the break and closing out the bout at 15-10.

The quarter-finals pitted Zagunis against Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.) - her teammate on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team that won bronze in Rio.

Aksamit finished the pool rounds on Friday with a 4-2 record and won her preliminary table of 64 bout against Yu Ling Chen (CHN), 15-5, to advance to the second day.

In the table of 64, Aksamit defeated Martyna Komisarczyk (POL), 15-11. She went on to fence Norika Tomura (JPN) who entered the 32 off a 15-13 upset of the fourth seeded Cecilia Berder (FRA).

Aksamit defeated Tomura, 15-11, and took her next bout, 15-13, over Xin Zhang (CHN) to advance to her first World Cup individual quarter-final since 2009.

The quarter-final bout between Aksamit and Zagunis would be one of the closest of the day for Zagunis who held a two-touch lead at the break at 8-6 and went on to claim the win, 15-10.

With her podium finished secured, Zagunis advanced to the semifinals, but lost to Sara Balzer (FRA), 15-6.

Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.), a member of the team that won bronze in Rio, placed 15th in Yanghzhou. After a 5-1 finish in pools, Wozniak earned advanced directly to the table of 64.

Wozniak defeated Hin Wai Lam (HKG), 15-10, in the table of 64 and upset 2012 Olympic Champion Jiyeon Kim (KOR) in the 32, besting the No. 2 seed by one touch at 15-14.

In the table of 16, Wozniak ended up on the other side of a 15-14 bout, falling to Martina Criscio - an up-and-coming Italian who has won medals at two of the last three World Cups.

Three members of Team USA finished in the table of 64.

Rio Olympic team bronze medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.) was exempt from pools, but lost her opening direct elimination bout, 15-13, to Olena Prokuda (UKR).

Two-time Senior World team medalist Eliza Stone (Chicago, Ill.) finished the pool rounds with a 4-2 record and defeated Yiqi Guo (CHN) to advance to the second day.

In the table of 64, Stone lost her bout to five-time individual World Cup medalist Rossella Gregorio (ITA), 15-9.

Fencing at her second Senior World Cup, 16-year-old Morgan Jenkins (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) went 3-3 in pools and defeated 2016 Orleans World Cup medalist Chika Aoki (JPN), 15-13, to qualify for the table of 64 where she pushed Manon Brunet (FRA), a top-four finisher in Rio, to a near upset. Jenkins led the bout, 8-3, at the break before Brunet came back in the second period to take a 15-11 win and later the gold medal.

On Sunday, Wozniak, Muhammad, Aksamit and Stone fenced in the team event, winning the first gold for the squad since 2014.

Team USA won four straight matches, defeating two of the top three seeds in the tournament en route to winning the title.

After a 45-26 win over Hong Kong, the Americans defeated third seeded Korea, 45-37, to advance to the semis.

In the semifinals, Team USA faced a Hungarian squad led by World No. 3 Anna Marton. The Americans edged Hungary, 45-44.

Team USA fenced top-seeded France in the finals. Although France included two of the medalists in the individual event - Brunet and Balzer - the Americans held on for a 45-43 victory.

All four U.S. fencers made strong contributions throughout the day with Wozniak and Aksamit both producing +10 indicators.

Click here to view complete results.

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:

Yangzhou Women's Individual Saber World Cup

1. Manon Brunet (FRA)

2. Sara Balzer (FRA)

3. Martina Criscio (ITA)

3. Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.)

5. Rossella Gregorio (ITA)

6. Saoussen Boudiaf (FRA)

7. Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.)

8. Sabina Mikina (AZE)

15. Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.)

34. Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.)

56. Eliza Stone (Chicago, Ill.)

62. Morgan Jenkins (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)

73. Ryan Jenkins (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)

80. Sarah Hung (Dallas, Texas)

96. Anna Li (Lake Oswego, Ore.)

99. Alexis Browne (New York City, N.Y.)

103. Amber White (Maplewood, N.J.)

105. Monir Fahri (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Yangzhou Women's Team Saber World Cup

1. USA

2. France

3. Italy

4. Hungary

5. Korea

6. China

7. Ukraine

8. Spain

For more information, please contact:

Nicole Jomantas

Tel: 719.761.7909

Email: N.Jomantas@usfencing.org

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