Vet Worlds 2024, Day 3: Team USA Dominance Continues With Golds for Walters, Men's Saber Team

DUBAI — When it comes to international Veteran saber fencing, all roads go through Team USA.

After winning gold in the Women’s Saber team event a day earlier, the Men’s Saber team completed a clean sweep on Sunday — mirroring the results of the 2023 Veteran Worlds in Daytona Beach, Fla., where Team USA also swept the saber team events.

The gold was one of three medals won by Team USA on the third day of the 2024 Veteran Fencing World Championships. The U.S. Men’s Saber team beat Italy for gold for the second consecutive year, while fencing legend Anne-Marie Walters (Masters Fencing Club) claimed her third world championship at her 18th Vet Worlds.

Before Walters took to the finals strip, Team USA faced Italy in the Vet Men’s Saber team final for the third year in a row.

While Italy took the title in 2022, Team USA reclaimed it in 2023. And this year, against an Italian team determined to win back the crown, Team USA left no room for doubt, securing another world championship.

“There's great chemistry with this team,” says Chris Matt (Capital Fencing Academy). “These guys are awesome. We’ve totally gelled together, and everyone had each other's backs. Anyone was ready to step in at the moment we needed them.”

A medal for Team USA was no surprise to those who watched the Men’s Saber individual competition over the previous two days. Team USA took home six individual medals in Men’s Saber — two in each age category. This created what was essentially a “super squad.” In what is believed to be a first for the Vet Men’s Saber team event, all six members of the squad were individual medalists from the same tournament.

The super squad featured, for Vet 50: Ron Thornton (Capital Fencing Academy) and Kim Phillips (Zeta Fencing); for Vet 60: Matt and Joshua Runyan (Spartak); and for Vet 70: Joseph S. Streb (Columbus International Fencing Academy & Royal Arts FC) and Don Malnati (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation).

“All the individual fencers are great,” says Malnati. “Just being part of a group like this was very exciting. I think we all fed off that energy.”

Like last year, this year’s squad looked strong throughout the day, winning both pool rounds on their way to a commanding finals victory (30-16 over Italy in 2023, 30-15 this year). As he did last year, Thornton anchored the team, bringing home the gold.

“The pressure is always on,” Thornton says. “Nothing is ever the same as the year before — it's always different. This year, we knew we had to match up well, and we knocked it out of the park.”

While the finals and semifinals were relatively drama-free, Team USA needed a comeback in the quarterfinals against Japan to remain in medal contention.

The anchor for that match was Streb, who entered the sixth and final leg trailing 25-21. He staged an impressive rally, leading Team USA to a 30-27 victory.

“I didn’t even know we were that far down,” Streb says. “I knew I was behind, and I had to score a lot of touches. That’s part of team fencing. Sometimes you get put in that situation — it’s not always pleasant, but it’s great when it works out.”

In the Vet-70 Women’s Foil event, Anne-Marie Walters won her third world championship. Though making her Vet-70 debut in Dubai, Walters has now competed at 18 Veteran Fencing World Championships, winning 10 medals across all three age categories. Her two other titles came in Vet-60 (2015 and 2022).

“It’s about the love of the sport,” Walters says. “I just love fencing. My family knows to check my fencing schedule before planning anything because they know it’s my passion. Fencing is a lifetime sport. Here I am in my 70s, and I plan to be here for another 10 years.”The other individual U.S. medal came in Vet-50 Women’s Foil, where Jane Carter (Marx Fencing Academy & Tanner City Fencers Club) earned a bronze. It was her third individual medal in this event (2023 silver, 2017 silver).