BEIJING — Mariel Zagunis won the first U.S. gold medal of the Beijing Games, leading an American sweep Saturday in women’s sabre fencing.
“It was a dream come true,” Zagunis said after taking the gold with a 15-8 victory over Sada Jacobson, who won silver. Becca Ward took bronze.
Before the fencing medals were awarded, the Americans had been shut out of Olympic medals, trailing the likes of Cuba, North Korea and Uzbekistan in the overall standings. Then the sabre trio vaulted the U.S. to the top of the table with three medals.
Zagunis was also sabre champion in 2004, when she became the first American in a century to win a fencing gold.
These same three U.S. women are seeded No. 1 for the team competition Thursday.
“We hope that any success we have goes to making our sport more popular,” Jacobson said. “If we can get even one girl to take up fencing, then we’ve done well.”
The last time a country swept an Olympic fencing event was in 1976, when the Soviet Union dominated the men’s sabre event.
