Calgary's Eleanor Harvey takes the bronze to win Canada's first Olympic fencing medal
Calgary's Eleanor Harvey won a bronze medal Sunday to become the first Canadian to win an individual fencing medal.
Harvey withstood a fierce comeback by Italy's Alice Volpi, who rebounded from a 10-4 deficit to knot the score at 10 apiece before Harvey reeled off five points to win 15-12.
The Calgary resident, a past CTV Athlete of the Week, had a big comeback win herself, coming from behind to beat Italian Martina Favaretto 15-14 in the quarterfinals earlier Sunday after also trailing 10-4.
However, a couple hours later in the semi-finals her luck ran out against American Lauren Scruggs, who beat her 15-9 to advance to the gold medal match.
Scruggs controlled the match early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before Harvey cut the deficit to 5-3 before the end of the first round.
The 29-year-old, originally from Hamilton, was a silver medallist in both the individual and team foil events in last year's Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile.
Eleanor Harvey is a fencer on the rise and she's our Athlete of the Week. Glenn Campbell reports
Team Canada Fan Fest, on Stephen Avenue between 1 Street S.E. and 1 Street S.W., was the site of a happy watch party Sunday afternoon, where a number of fellow Olympians watched Harvey make Canadian fencing history.
Joseph Polossifakis, who finished in the Top 25 in men's fencing at the 2016 Rio Olympics, summed it up succinctly.
"It’s huge, it’s historic and I’m very proud of Eleanor.," Polossifakis said. "I’ve known her a long time and it’s really good to see her pull this off!"
Canadian Olympian Joseph Polossifakis watched Eleanor Harvey win the first Canadian fencing medal in the Olympics Sunday in downtown Calgary
Olympic fencer Kelleigh Ryan, who competed at Tokyo in 2020, said it was hard to process what a historic moment Harvey's medal was for her sport.
"I know how hard she’s worked, I know how hard her coaches have worked – they deserve this – I know the personal battles she’s been through to get to this point.," Ryan said.
"It’s so amazing for her," she added. "it’s so amazing for her coach -- and it’s amazing for Canadian fencing, which is up-and-coming in so many ways."
Kelleigh Ryan, who was a fencer on the Canadian Olympic team at Tokyo in 2020, talks about Eleanor Harvey's historic medal Sunday in downtown Calgary
Polossifakis said a medal moment like Harvey's would help grow the sport in Canada, where fencing flies a little under the sports radar most days.
"It’s been every fencer’s dream to get an Olympic medal, and she just pulled it off," he said.
"What it’s gonna do," he added, "is inspire another generation to keep doing this, and we’re gonna get another medal, very soon I hope – I can see that happening – and inspire another generation (of young fencers) and resources hopefully to keep doing this more consistently at the (Olympic) Games."
"It's all entirely surreal," added Ryan, "but I also entirely believe in Canadian fencing .
"I can’t wait to see what’s next for us."
With files from the Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
Trump chooses Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdraws
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow has tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine, and he warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays
Canadians won’t have to pay GST on a selection of items this holiday season, the prime minister vowed on Thursday.
A one-of-a-kind Royal Canadian Mint coin sells for more than $1.5M
A rare one-of-a-kind pure gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint has sold for more than $1.5 million. The 99.99 per cent pure gold coin, named 'The Dance Screen (The Scream Too),' weighs a whopping 10 kilograms and surpassed the previous record for a coin offered at an auction in Canada.
Video shows octopus 'hanging on for dear life' during bomb cyclone off B.C. coast
Humans weren’t the only ones who struggled through the bomb cyclone that formed off the B.C. coast this week, bringing intense winds and choppy seas.
Taylor Swift's motorcade spotted along Toronto's Gardiner Expressway
Taylor Swift is officially back in Toronto for round two. The popstar princess's motorcade was seen driving along the Gardiner Expressway on Thursday afternoon, making its way to the downtown core ahead of night four of ‘The Eras Tour’ at the Rogers Centre.
Service Canada holding back 85K passports amid Canada Post mail strike
Approximately 85,000 new passports are being held back by Service Canada, which stopped mailing them out a week before the nationwide Canada Post strike.