She laughed when she said it, and shook her head. It didn't ooze confidence, but you got the idea that Kim, who is a first-time Olympian, had nothing to lose.
She'd let it rip the same way Zagunis did against more decorated opponents in Athens when nobody saw her coming, either. It wasn't lost on those who regularly cover fencing that Zagunis has been taking her career seriously in the last eight years.
She's older, and all grown up, and is done with college. She's making a life for herself, picking up some endorsements, and I suppose it's what we all do. But those who were in Athens remember talking with a smiling, bubbly, fun competitor after the quarterfinal round. In Beijing she didn't stop to field questions until the semifinal round. And on Wednesday, Zagunis didn't stop until she was totally out of the competition. Said Zagunis: "I guess, in Athens it felt completely different.
So I felt more riding the wave and being on cloud nine type thing. But you do it once then you do it twice and then you have the gravity of doing it a third time, you start to realize a lot more the significance of it, and perhaps that means you need to make yourself focus more and not stopping and talking and being happy all the time.
The two-time defending Olympic champion looked locked in on Wednesday. I watched her before her fights, and after fights, and as she passed through the mixed zone on her way to the locker room.
I looked for a hint of that smiling teenager that rocked the fencing world. But she never once smiled. Never said a merry word. Never did anything but swing the sword, and pump her fist, and march toward the next opponent.
I wondered about her mother, Cathy, who had told reporters that she'd flown in days ago prior to the Opening Ceremony, but hadn't yet seen her daughter. The kid is busy now, and focused, and any mother would understand that. But I wondered, was the pressure of carrying the American flag and facing a three-peat squeezing the Olympian?
It's a difficult thing to win the Olympics three times in a row. After the quarterfinal round in which Zagunis shredded China's Zhu Min the USA Fencing media representative took a step toward Zagunis as she passed through the mixed zone to see if she was going to field questions. The fencer just shook her head and kept walking.
Her coach, Ed Korfanty showed up a few minutes later and said, "She just wants to concentrate. To be fair, I suppose if Zagunis had held onto that imposing lead in the semifinal with Kim and went on to win an unprecedented third consecutive gold medal we'd be celebrating her mental edge and laser-like focus today.
If she'd have scored just three more little points we'd be praising her poise and professionalism and talking about a four-peat. Mariel Zagunis was born on a Sunday, March 3, in Oregon. Her birth name is Mariel Leigh Zagunis and she is currently 36 years old. People born on March 3 fall under the zodiac sign of Pisces. Her zodiac animal is Ox. Mariel Leigh Zagunis is an American sabre fencer.
She won the gold medals in the individual sabre at the Summer Olympics and the Summer Olympics. She is the second American to win a gold medal in Olympic fencing, and was chosen to be the flag bearer of the United States at the Summer Olympics Parade of Nations.
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