CA Bhavani Devi becomes the first Indian to qualify for the Olympics in the sport of Fencing. Previously, Devi had won a gold medal in the Tournoi Satellite Fencing Championship held in Reykjavik, Iceland. She defeated Sarah Jane Hampson of Great Britain by 15-13 points, in the finals.
Further, it won't be wrong to say that CA Bhavani Devi is paving the way and is almost pioneering in the sport. Devi is the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the international fencing event. She had earlier won a silver medal in the Satellite Event Championship.
After that event, Devi told PTI, "This is my third time in this competition. I lost in the quarterfinals in previous years. Now, I have won my first medal. It is also the first medal in World Level Competition as I have won medals in Asian and Commonwealth championships."
Bhavani Devi had started practicing sabre fencing in the year 2003 and has come a long way. She got training in Kerala from the Sports Authority of India Centre in Thalassery. Her first international tournament was at the young age of 14 where she performed in Turkey. In her youth, she was also selected in the Go Sports Foundation for Rahul Dravid athlete mentorship programme.
Fencing
Fencing is a sport of combat nature. There are three major disciplines in modern fencing - the foil, the épée, and the sabre. Out of these, CA Bhavani Devi is a sabre fencer. The fact has it that Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics. Yet India hasn't been able to qualify for the Olympics in this sport until now. It is also said that Competitive fencing is one of the five activities which have been featured in every modern Olympic Games. The other four being athletics, cycling, swimming, and gymnastics.
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