The US Women's Sabre boasts an Olympic Champion, a World Champion, and the current #1 ranked women in the world, and those honors are spread amoung the three starters for the US.
This powerhouse of a team burst on to World Stage in 2004 when Mariel Zagunis (pictured above) came literally from the bottom of the Olympics to win the gold medal. Since then US Women's sabre dominance has run almost unbroken.
Mariel joined the Jacobson sisters as the top ranked women sabrists in the world, but Emily Jacoboson would leave international fencing for the most part after the 2004 games. Her sister Sada is considered the best in the world and had won the bronze at the Athens and is currently ranked #1 in the world.
Right after the end the 2004 games the combination of Mariel and Sada looked formidable enough, but in 2005 another women's sabre giant would announce her presence.
In 2006 at the age of 16 Rebbeca Ward from the US won the 16 and under, 19 and under, and Senior World Championships, and has been ranked #2 in the world ever since. In the 2006 Senior World Championships Zagunis and Sada finished 2nd and 3rd behind Ward, sweeping the medal stand for the US.
Since then the US Women's sabre has fallen on hard times, by their standards, taking a silver behind the French at 2006 Team World Championships. Then at the 2007 World Championships the US failed to medal in the individual despite two top eight finishes. And in the team event they faired not better placing 7th.
They finished the 2007-2008 season ranked #1 and are ready to sweep aside memories of 2007 and reassert the US as the premier nation for women's sabre.
They are heavily favored to win, and while it very well could be Sada Jacobson's final Olympics, Mariel likely and Ward assuredly have another run the gold in 2012.
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