(L-R) Shaul Gordon (Photo by Arabella Uhry), Blake Broszus (Photo from Canadian Fencing Federation), and Katine Proestakis (Photo from Penn Athletics).
As the Tokyo Games have finished, three Penn fencers have seen their Olympic cycle come to an end as well.
Shaul Gordon, who graduated from Penn in 2016, competed for Canada in the men’s sabre individual tournament, rising sophomore Blake Broszus also competed for Canada, but in the men’s foil team tournament as an alternate, and rising freshman Katina Proestakis competed for Chile in the women’s foil individual tournament.
Gordon competed in the Table of 32, Bout 39 men’s sabre individual event against Iran and lost his bout 15-10. The bout lasted a total of 12 minutes and 45 seconds. In the first period, Gordon was down 8-6, and in the second period, he fell 15-10. There ended up being no warnings or penalties in this bout for either of the competitors.
Since graduating from Penn, Gordon has continued to fence internationally, competing in two Pan American Games and six FIE World Championships for Canada. Additionally, he has competed in three Pan American Championships, six World Cups and a Grand Prix. Some of his achievements include earning a silver medal at the 2018 Pan American Championship and gold medal at an FIE Satellite event that same year.
He was selected to compete in the Olympics by virtue of his No. 22 position in the International Fencing Federation (FIE) world rankings.
Broszus, despite traveling as an alternate, was able to compete in the men’s foil team tournament with teammates Alex Cai and Maximilien van Haaster. The team fell to Germany in a 47 minute 19 second long match by a score of 45-31. Broszus scored 11 of the 31 touches his team scored in the match. There were a total of nine bouts until Germany reached 45 points, with only one penalty in the match being a yellow card awarded to Germany.
Similar to Gordon, Broszus is no stranger to the international competition scene, having competed in two World Championships, two Pan American Championships, four World Cups, and three World Junior Championships. In 2019, he earned a bronze medal at the Pan American Championships and earned 12th-place finish at the 2020 World Cup.
Lastly, Katina Proestakis competed in a bout for Chile against Poland in the women’s foil individual event. She fell by a final score of 12-15 after a bout that lasted around 22 minutes. She scored four points in the first period, seven in the second period, and one in the third.
Proestakis is a rising freshman at Penn who has been competing internationally for years. She has participated in one World Championship, two Pan American Championships, one World Cup, one Grand Prix, and four World Junior Championships. She began fencing at an academy in Antofagasta, Chile and continued her training after her family moved from Chile to Texas.
Broszus and Proestakis will continue their fencing careers this November with the Quakers, as the team prepares for their first competitive play since March of 2020.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate