Natalia Sheppard heads to London Olympics



After winning the foil discipline in the women’s division in Slovakia, Natalia Sheppard landed a place for the London Olympic Games, April 22.
Starting with a foil match against 15 fencers in a qualifying event (European Olympic Zonal in Bratislava, Slovakia), Sheppard won five of her six round bouts which earned her a bye through the round of 16 as third seed. Her victory in the 8th round against home favorite Slovakian Michala Cellerova, 15-4, had left her face to face with Romanian Cristina Ghita, 10-6, in the most important fight of her career. The fight did not start well for Sheppard as she hit low scores in the first two breaks. She pulled back and fought hard to beat Ghita in the third quarter taking them to a score of 6-6. With 19 seconds left, Sheppard closed the fight out 10-6 qualifying her to a spot in London Olympics 2012.
“I couldn’t have done this without my coach, Maciej, and all the performance support team which was put in place after the appointment of Alex Newton,” Sheppard said in an interview.
Maciej Wojtkowiak, her coach, also said, “I have always believed that the women’s foil squad had great potential. Every single person in the support team has contributed to the great achievement reached by Natalia today. I am looking forward with great optimism for the future.”
Meanwhile, British Fencing’s Performance Manager Alex Newton expressed his gratitude to Maciej for backing the women’s foil discipline. Sheppard’s victory is a proof of the team’s positive acceptance of the challenges they faced in his absence. With the London Olympics approaching, Newton looks forward into working with them in the future.
Twenty seven-year-old Natalia Sheppard, who will appear for her first Games, will join Richard Kruse (men’s foil), whose third appearance in the Olympics was secured in his victory last month.