fencing junior olympics

Last weekend Eva and I headed down to the Denver Convention Center to watch some fencing. The JO's were being held in Denver this year, and some of the best American fencers under 21 years old were competing. I don't think I've ever seen quite so many upper-middle class kids in one place at one time. Some kids were obviously there to have a good time, but some were pretty clearly there to WIN at all costs. I saw kids crying, screaming, getting yelled at by their coaches. I even saw a coach yell at a referee whose calls he didn't like. He screamed "Fuck you! You fucking moron!", right in front of his teenage students.

But one of the worst was a foil bout between two girls. The score was close: 13-14 (bouts end at 15 points). Every time the director said "fence", both girls charged at each other, and both hit at exactly the same time. No point for either side. They kept doing this, over and over again, literally about 20 times. Even a moderately experienced fencer would have changed tactics to try and score a point, but each girl had her respective coach yelling "Don't back down! Don't be the first to break!". It became clear that they were both too afraid of failure, and too afraid of their coaches, to take the initiative to try a different action. Each one did as she was told until finally, mercifully, one of them missed and the bout ended 15-13. By the end they were both in tears.

I'm glad I came to fencing the way I did, just screwing around and fencing with friends for years, never taking it too seriously. It was a long time before I ever thought about competing or training. Of course I'll never be an A-rated hotshot, but at least I'm having fun when I'm out there.