Dora Goundura and Despina Georgiadou finished the last competition season at No. 3 and No. 4 in the world fencing ranking respectively, while in July they won the bronze and silver medals respectively at the World Championships in Milan.
This was the culmination of an excellent competition season with ten more medals for Greece and with a Greek presence in 10 of the 11 podiums of the important FIE or EFC competitions.
After the necessary rest, the two Greek champions have been back in training for a few weeks now and are preparing for their return to the track. The first major event of the new season will be, like last year, the World Cup in Algiers, November 9-12.
Georgiadou is based in Orléans, France, where she trains at Christian Bauer’s academy. In order to gain competitive pace, Christos Saini’s athlete has scheduled three races until Algiers. On Sunday October 1st he will compete in the Satellite Race in Ghent, on Saturday October 14th he will compete in the Satellite Race in Tbilisi and on Sunday October 22nd he will compete in the French Cup in Strasbourg.
It should be noted that the Satellite competition series is run by the FIE during the preparation period (September-October) and includes four competitions per weapon. Winning each Satellite match can give up to four points towards the World Ranking.
Gundura will participate in a training camp in Montpellier, France between October 14-21 along with her teammates, Marina Paizi and Claire Benou. The gymnasts will be accompanied by the federal epee coach, Thanasis Delenikas.
The three gymnasts will then participate in the French Cup in Strasbourg on October 22, as will Georgiadou. The four gymnasts make up the National epee team that will compete in the team event of the World Cup in Algiers.
We remind you that Goundoura and Georgiadou are “chasing” with claims the Olympic qualification in the individual sabre. At the moment, Gundura is No. 3 in the world ranking with 214 points and No. 3 in the informal Olympic ranking (events after 01/04/2023 count) with 132 points.
Georgiadou, on the other hand, is No. 4 in the world ranking with 209 points and No. 6 in the informal Olympic ranking with 86 points.
The epee team is ranked No. 12 in the world with 184 points (which Germany also has at No. 11) and No. 12 in the informal Olympic ranking with 101 points.
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