I was surprised to see that many of the teams have custom face masks now. It looks pretty cool in the photos, but unfortunately, it also means that we can not see their faces anymore. This is new since I shot fencing in Beijing.
I love this shot of one of the athletes taking a break.
It was really great when the American girl took off her mask and made this pose in really nice light. Photo opportunity...
Another shot of her, but this time holding her helmet so that you can see the stars and stripes.
Great photos Jeff. Isn't Olympic women’s fencing Streamed live extraordinary? Never have I seen championship fencing right up close where the action and tactics are so clear and immediate. 2012 Olympic fencing is being streamed live over NBC Olympics (this morning, Sunday 7-29) using YouTube which, when set to full screen, is like standing right there beside the strip (piste) as if you are a judge calling the play. As fencing is of lesser interest to American audiences, little of it is televised and, never having gone to an Olympics, it is next to impossible to see closely champion fencers like these.
ReplyDeleteAnd watching closely is so interesting. Yesterday in the Women’s Individual Foil South Korean Nam Hyun-hee fenced Italian Eliza Di Francisca. Nam must be at least six inches shorter than Di Francisca and is left-handed, which called for extraordinary tactics from both women. Di Francisca had the longer reach and came in high; Nam had to come under the Italian’s blade and attack up under Di Francisca’s guard.
With her opponent being a lefty – that is, with Nam’s foil on the same side as Di Francisca’s – the target area was always partially blocked by Nam’s weapon and arm. Even if an opponent’s weapon could be lured out of line to open the chest area for a hit, the target was still partially obscured.
Nam’s defense against the Italian’s longer reach was lightning speed - Nam shot back out of reach with such amazing agility that many of Di Francisca’s thrusts simply could not reach her smaller opponent. The tactics of a fencing bout were rarely so obvious to the uninitiated observer, or presented so graphically in streaming video.
The various categories of fencing make it a large activity at the Olympics, with something like 24 medals, so it continues all this coming week. Today, the finals for Men’s sabre start at about 10:00am PST.
[From my post at Old China Books]
Jeff, I am really enjoying your blog, especially now that both Brian and Isaac play water polo. Did you happen to sit next to an Australian woman with a baby on a plane? I meet her at a party last night.
ReplyDeleteThat's Pretty Cool Pics :)
ReplyDeleteGoogle put a special doodle to Celebrate London 2012 Fencing
ReplyDeleteJulia - yes, we did sit with her for a while. What a coincidence!!!
ReplyDeleteQPT - I saw the Google screen this morning. Too cool.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, Jeff. Nicely captured.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this information about fencing near Vancouver. They are into this kind of things in Utah as well. Keep up the great posts.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to try out fencing in Waterloo. I think it would be way fun. I was going to do a class but I could.
ReplyDeleteWow Jeff I really enjoyed these photos. I've been looking to get back in shape. I'm looking to do fencing in Kitchener. Obviously with everything going on it is a little harder, but I am hopeful to be able to try this fun sport. En garde!
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