Korean fencer Nam Hyun-hee takes part in a training session ahead of the London Olympics. (London Olympic Joint Press Corps)

The following is the eighth in a series of articles on rival athletes in South Korea’s most competitive events at the London 2012 Olympic Games. -Ed.


South Korea’s top fencer Nam Hyun-hee must beat Italy’s fencing superstar Valentina Vezzali to strike gold in London.

Nam, ranked second in the International Fencing Federation standings of female foil fencers, will compete in her second straight Olympics in London.

She first made the national roster in 1999. Her gold medal march started with the 2002 Busan Asian Games, followed by the 2006 Doha Asian Games and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Nam has established herself as the most fearsome fencer in Asia.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, she had the chance to grab the gold medal, but missed it by one point in the close final to Vezzali. Nam became the first South Korean female fencing medalist on her Olympic debut.

The 30-year-old Korean has since improved her blade sense ― the ability to predict an opponent’s next attack and so forth. 
She captured the bronze medal in the World Championships last year, and won a double gold in the Asian Championships this year for the fourth straight time. Nam has conquered Asian fencing. But in order to reach the top of the fencing world, she has to clear the same hurdle that she faced four years ago.

Currently, three of the top four female foil fencers are Italian with Nam in second place. Her strongest rival is world No. 1 Vezzali, who targets an unprecedented fourth consecutive individual foil gold in London. She took the event in Sydney in 2000, in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008. The reigning fencing queen also has won two Olympic foil team events. She is the first fencer to have won five Olympic gold medals in the foil event.

The mother of one has collected gold at 13 world championships and nine at the European level.

In their last showdown in the Foil World Cup in St. Petersburg in June last year, Nam lost to Vezzali 12-15 in the semifinals. Vezzali won the gold and Nam took the bronze.

Both fencers entered the SK Telecom Trophee Grand Prix in Seoul in May, this year, but their confrontation did not come around as Vezzali was eliminated in the quarterfinal. Nam reached the final only to be defeated by Sylwia Gruchala of Poland. Vezzali ended the Grand Prix in fifth.

In the sport where a long-limbed and taller fencer generally has an advantage, Nam is diminutive ― 155cm tall, 9cm shorter than Vezzali. Most of top 10 fencers are 5 to 20cm taller than Nam.

Despite her short stature, she has been able to stay among world-leading fencers by adapting her attacks to her opponent. Nam is also excellent in mixing up short- and long-distance offenses. She overcomes her short height by trying to keep her distance, then suddenly closing in on her opponent for a stab.

If the 38-year-old Vezzali pulls off another foil individual gold in London and steps on top of the podium, she will be the first-ever female Olympian to win four straight gold medals. There are only two Olympic athletes so far to have achieved the feat, Carl Lewis and Al Oerter, both U.S. track and field athletes.

Eyes are drawn to whether the petite Korean fencer will dash the Italian world champ’s Olympic ambition if they meet again in the final.

The women’s foil individual gold medal match will be held at 3:40 p.m. Korean time on July 29.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)