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