----------------------------------------------------------- New Message on Irish Fencing Forum
----------------------------------------------------------- From: Captain_Owen Message 1 in Discussion I was just having a look around to see if I could get anymore information on Damien Douya, the French sabre fencer who had his hand skewered in the semi-final of the mens team sabre final at the Athens Olympics at 44 all only to return win the final point, as I thought it was just the coolest fencing story of the year. To my discust though all I could find was quotes from Keith Smart, the top USA Sabeur who had Skewered his hand, bitching. "He got cut after the blade was caught up between his fingers," Smart said. "It is an injury that happens all the time in fencing, but he was nervous. He stopped, and this was smart of him. Usually in fencing when people are scared they stop. It is normal being nervous, I am nervous too sometimes, but I have never stopped a fight." The blade went through his hand at the webbing between his finger and came out his palm. Smart and Touya charged each other off the start and recorded touches but the referee said neither set up the right of way and gave no points. On the next play, Smart's saber went through Touya's glove, hand and clean through his palm. His trainers bandaged the hand while his replacement, Boris Sandson, warmed up. Smart meanwhile took a seat on a chair on the edge of the strip, getting some advice from his coach, Yury Gelman. With the 10-minute injury time-out set to end, Touya decided to resume the match, bloodstains on his white suit. They attacked twice and no points were awarded, but on the fourth try, they two recorded touches and the referee ruled that Touya caught Smart, giving the Frenchman the winning point and a chance to face Italy for the gold. Smart stood in the middle of the strip, his helmet off and mouth agape, after the call. Gelman ran onto the strip and argued with the referee. And still he went on: �France ... you know ... man, that hurt,� Smart said. �Everyone was there, everyone saw it. For whatever reason the officials didn�t want to help us out.� Smart stood in the middle of the strip, his helmet off and mouth agape, after the referee awarded the final point to Touya, who had bloodstains on the leg of his white suit. �The last touch with France, I think it was a bad call,� said Smart�s teammate, Ivan Lee. Fair enough they've lost the but is this not poor sportsmanship on a whole other level? Every report (from America) I've read moans about how unlucky the US team was doesn't mention the greatest story of heroics in the sport for years. And barely mentions who won (which was France incidentally) just because it was a Frenchman involved. I think I might be getting hungry ----------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this e-mail, or change how often it arrives, go to your E-mail Settings. http://groups.msn.com/IrishFencingForum/_emailsettings.msnw Need help? If you've forgotten your password, please go to Passport Member Services. http://groups.msn.com/_passportredir.msnw?ppmprop=help For other questions or feedback, go to our Contact Us page. http://groups.msn.com/contact If you do not want to receive future e-mail from this MSN group, or if you received this message by mistake, please click the "Remove" link below. On the pre-addressed e-mail message that opens, simply click "Send". Your e-mail address will be deleted from this group's mailing list. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
