Vet Worlds 2024, Day 2: Matt Wins Long-Awaited World Championship in Vet-60 Men’s Saber as U.S. Defends Title in Women’s Saber Team

DUBAI — For Chris Matt (Capital Fencing Academy), the journey to a world championship has been one of ups and downs. 

But on Saturday, everything clicked, and Matt will return to the U.S. with his first medal at his sixth Vet Worlds — a gold in Vet-60 Men’s Saber. 

“It is sort of the pinnacle of the mountain of a whole lot of hard work and a bunch of close calls — a lot of near misses, and so it feels really good,” Matt says. “And the support of Team USA — it just it felt like a dream today and walking on cloud nine.”

Matt’s gold, in front of a large crowd of family members and Team USA athletes from other weapons and age categories, was part of a five-medal day for the United States on Saturday at the 2024 Veteran Fencing World Championships. In a promising sign that another dynasty might be beginning, Team USA also earned its second straight gold medal in the Women’s Saber Team event.

Coming into Dubai, Team USA had won gold medals in Vet-60 Men’s Saber at three Vet Worlds in a row: 2019 (Joshua Runyan), 2022 (Mark Lundborg) and 2023 (Lundborg).

That added a bit of motivation for Matt — not that he needed it. He’s wanted redemption ever since a sixth-place finish in Daytona Beach, Fla., a year ago.

“That motivation has been everything,” Matt says. “There's been little cards in my locker about what I need to do and how to climb the rest of the mountain.”

In the Vet Team competition, selections for the six-person squad are conducted in an equitable way. The two U.S. athletes from each age category with the highest individual finishes at that year’s Vet Worlds are invited to compete in the team event. (Though anyone may decline, most accept.) This system ensures that the six athletes on the hottest “hot streak” at the moment represent their country on the team stage.

At his previous five Vet Worlds, Matt had finished third or fourth among his U.S. teammates, meaning he wasn’t selected for the team competition. Not this year.

“We’ve got a strong team,” he says. “Italy will be tough, but I think we can do it. And I'm really ready to go.”

Matt and his Men’s Saber teammates, who compete on Sunday, can look to the Team USA Women’s Saber squad for inspiration.

This year’s team was, for Vet-50: Julie Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club) and Nona Lim (United Fencers of Oakland); for Vet-60: Robin J. Pernice (Dynamo Fencing Center) and Lydia Fabry (Avant Garde Fencers Club & Fortune Fencing); and for Vet-70: Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Connecticut Fencers Club & Marx Fencing Academy) and Linda Dunn (Indysabre Fencing Club).

The team started the day in pool play — going 2-0 against Germany and Japan. Through the luck of seeding, they drew a rematch against Germany in the quarterfinals. Team USA won, 30-19. (While team events at other competitions like the Olympics or Junior & Cadet Worlds are nine rounds to 45, Vet Team events are six rounds to 30 touches). 

Team USA rolled through the semifinals as well, defeating Italy, 30-17. That set up a gold medal final against Great Britain, which Team USA won, 30-20.

That’s two wins in a row for Team USA in the event. Fabry, Pernice and Seal were members of that 2023 squad. Starks-Faulkner, who a day earlier had added an individual saber world championship to her foil titles, says she was just happy to be on the team.

“It’s really great, being on a team with you guys,” she says. “It was wonderful, and this is totally unexpected.” 

Starks-Faulkner served as the closer, fencing in the sixth and final leg.

“I was a little nervous being the anchor. I was hoping I didn't mess anything up, and I was just trying to remember all the coaching I was getting during the day and where people were pumping me up,” she says. “It was really a wonderful experience.”

Dunn, Starks-Faulkner’s fellow Vet-70 fencer on the team, says she’s delighted to earn her first Vet Worlds medal at her final Vet Worlds.

“I'm going to be having minor surgery after this, and this is the end of my fencing career,” she says. “I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to be on this team with such wonderful fencers.”

Team USA also added three bronze medals to its haul. In Vet-60 Men’s Saber, Joshua Runyan (Spartak) earned bronze.

In Vet-50 Men’s Saber, Ron Thornton (Capital Fencing Academy) and Kim Phillips (Zeta Fencing) got bronze medals as well, ending a two-year medal drought in the category. Team USA’s last Vet Worlds medals in Vet-50 Men’s Saber came in 2019 (there was no Vet Worlds in 2020 or 2021).