In Korea, the first stop of Gundoura and Georgiadou for the Olympic qualification

Dora Goundura and Despina Georgiadou are already in South Korea preparing for the third and final Women’s Saber Grand Prix of the current season, the 2023 SK Telecom Seoul Grand Prix.

This event returns to the global calendar this year four years after the last time it was held, i.e. before the pandemic. Together with the two gymnasts, Thanasis Delenikas, federal epee coach, and Christos Sainis are also in Korea. who trains, together with the French Christian Bauer, Georgiadou.

The competition leg of the Seoul event will take place between April 27 and 29, with the men’s and women’s heats scheduled for 4/27 and 4/28 respectively, and the final scheduled for 4/29 for both the men and for women together.

The two Greek women, due to their position in the world ranking (Georgiadou No. 2 and Goundura No. 6), have the right to participate directly in the main draw of the “64” that will be held next Saturday. Their first matches will start at 4:30am on Saturday, while the men’s and women’s semi-finals and finals will start at 12:00 noon on the same day.

In total, 155 athletes have been declared to compete, most of whom will fence next Friday in the women’s heats to secure one of the 48 available spots left on the main draw.

The level will be particularly high given that of the world’s top 30 fencers, only three will be absent, American Anne-Elizabeth Stone (No. 18), France’s Sarah Nutsa (No. 22) and Japan’s Risa Takashima (No. 28).

This is the first saber competition within the Olympic qualification period that began on April 3, 2023 and will end on April 1, 2024. The two Greek women are claiming to secure individual qualification, while the next world cup in Batumi, Georgia begins and the women’s national saber team’s journey to the difficult task of securing qualification to the team event, which is a one-way street in order to find both top athletes in Paris in 2024.