Women’s Saber Team Battles Back to Finish Fifth

PARIS, France — The U.S. Women’s Saber Team — whose average age of 20 makes them the youngest squad in the competition — didn’t let a quarterfinal loss to Korea linger and rallied back to finish fifth in the eight-team tournament.

The quartet of Elizabeth Tartakovsky (Livingston, N.J.), Magda Skarbonkiewicz (Portland, Ore.), Tatiana Nazlymov (Bethesda, Md.) and Maia Chamberlain (Menlo Park, Calif.) dropped into the 5-8 bracket after a quarterfinal loss to Korea, 45-35. 

Less than an hour after that defeat, they were asked to fence again in the 5-8 classification round. There they looked dominant, defeating Algeria, 45-28. That set up one more match — again less than an hour after their previous one — against Hungary in a battle for fifth place.

Team USA once again won, this time 45-39, to take home an impressive fifth-place finish.

Women’s Saber Team

• Quarterfinals: Team USA lost to Korea, 45-35
• 5-8 Classification Match: Team USA def. Algeria, 45-28
• 5-6 Classification Match: Team USA def. Hungary, 45-39

On Sunday, Aug. 4, Team USA will be back in action on the final day of fencing with the Men’s Foil team event, Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.), Paris 2024 bronze medalist Nick Itkin (Los Angeles, Calif.), Gerek Meinhardt (Lexington, Ky.) and Miles Chamley-Watson (Los Angeles, Calif.).