US Men's Sabre Ready For 2008 Olympics, Without Lee

The US Men's Sabre team in 2004 came with in 1 touch of fencing in the gold medal bout, a first for Men's Sabre team from the US. Now in 2008 the Men's Sabre team's expectations are running very high but they are going to China without one of the main stays in US sabre fencing for years.

Despite winning the 2008 National Title, Ivan Lee's poor showing in international competitions in 2008 sunk his Olympic dreams. Ivan, overshadowed by Keith Smart's 2004 #1 in the world ranking, has been one of the finest Men's Sabre fencers in US History winning several National Championships and posting excellent career finishs in World Cups, World Championships and 2004 Summer Games.

His veteran presence will be sorely missed in the high pressure Olympic setting, but the good news for the US is that the majority of their team are no strangers to the Olympics.

Keith Smart has been one of the most outstanding international US fencers in memory and is undoubtedly the leader of this US team. Emotionally broken after his failure to hold the US lead in the 2004 games, he took a year away from fencing but his return has been nothing short of spectacular. Keith enters the 2008 games ranked 5th in the world and is on the short list of fencers that could strike gold.

Former Buckeye Jason Rogers (pictured above) is also a veteran of the 2004 Athens team and is coming off a very strong 2007 season. Jason is seeking to prove, like Smart, that the US collapse in the medal bouts in Athens were a fluke and establish the US as  Men's Sabre power. Tim Morehouse is entering his 2nd Olympics and is a  starter for the first time. Tim is fencing better than any point his career, putting together two years of top 20 world rankings.

The final member of the US Olympic Team is young James Williams, who is on just his second Senior National Team and has one of the fastest rises in recent memory. In 2004, when the other members of this team were fencing in Athens, Williams was a total unknown with almost no international experience at the senior level and in 4 years rose from a 552nd ranking in the world to 28th.

He will make a fine alternate to this US team and it would be a major shock if this is his last Olympic team. This Sabre team represents the US' best chance for a Men's Gold this Summer Games and even with out one of its most vital members, all the members are fencing very well coming into the games.
 
The US will surprise no one this time around and they will need to prove they can beat the Russians, French, or Italians to put the US mark on Men's Sabre.