Are there medals in the U.S. fencing team’s future?

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The U.S. Olympic Committee made available a partial transcript of a Q&A with Robert Largman, team leader of the U.S. Fencing team. Here is what Largman said when asked about the squad’s medal chances:

‘It’s clear that our best chance is right out of the gate in women’s saber. Individually we have the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 ranked athletes going into the seeding. Our women’s saber team also is seeded No. 1.

‘Then we have men’s epee which is a very tough weapon. There’s a lot of parity, a lot of potential upsets. Seth Kelsey is ranked fourth and is a medal contender. A lot of the smaller countries focus one weapon and that’s usually epee.

“The women’s foil team has an extremely tough match with Poland in the first round. If they can get Poland, they have a shot.

“Kelley Hurley in women’s epee is a junior world’s champion. She’s going up against people who are more experienced, but she’s wise beyond her years.

“Gerek Meinhardt is the youngest fencer on the team. He’s not even in college yet. It would be hard to pick him as a medal contender at this point. It depends on how the chips fall.

“The men’s saber team came within one touch of a medal in Athens. They lost 45-44 to France. In the bronze medal match, they lost 45-44 to Russia. Twice in one day they lost a medal by one touch. They have their work cut out against Hungary.

“Everyone seems to be letting Becca Ward go under the radar. She was the World Champion two years ago.

-- Greg Johnson