| The Russians again won their second gold on the fencing track The Russian women's epee team yesterday accomplished in Sydney what fans had been waiting in vain for two days from our gymnasts - they won team gold. And this despite the fact that, unlike the rings and parallel bars masters, our fencers did not shine at all at the largest tournaments in recent years. If they had lost the Olympics, no one would have thrown a stone at them. However, the epee fencers accomplished the almost impossible: in the semifinals they defeated the “great” Hungarians, the main contenders for victory, and in the final they “dealt” with the Swiss team. And they did it easily, without allowing either the judges or their rivals to doubt their ultimate success. Although the day before they snatched victory from Hungary with a difference of one single shot - 45:44 (by the way, the Hungarians experienced such a shock after losing to ours that in the match for bronze they lost to the athletes from China).
The Russians played the final matches very confidently. Only in the second series of fights did they allow their opponents to reduce the score - 21:22. But then our Marina Mazina dealt with the leader of the Swiss team, 15-year-old Sophie Lamont, in brilliant style. After this, Tatyana Logunova only had to further increase the advantage of our team. The final score of the meeting was 45:35 in favor of the Russians. A more than convincing and confident victory. Of course, unexpected, but that makes it even more pleasant.
Perhaps it was the absence of the heaviest burden of responsibility, which literally pinned our gymnasts to the platform, that helped the Russian epee fencers liberate themselves and win. Now, for Mazina, Logunova, Oksana Ermakova and Karina Aznavuryan, who even after the award ceremony could not get enough of their gold medals, the stakes at future tournaments will be the highest. People don’t become Olympic champions out of nowhere. Lyubov BERZINA |
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