Mariel Zagunis (R) competes in the women's saber individual fencing semifinal against Jiyeon Kim of Korea at the London 2012 Olympic Games at ExCeL on Aug. 1, 2012 in London.
Five For Friday: Pan American Games
Five For Friday: Paralympic Swimming
The team competition in all three disciplines will close out the World Fencing Championships this weekend in Moscow.
The U.S. teams include the top-ranked and defending world champion women’s saber team, led by two-time Olympic champion Mariel Zagunis, and the former top-ranked men’s foil team. The world championships award qualification points toward the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
Joining Zagunis in women’s saber are Olympic teammate Dagmara Wozniak, Eliza Stone and Ibtihaj Muhammad.
Race Imboden, who entered worlds as the top-ranked individual fencer in men’s foil, will compete with Alex Massialas, Miles Chamley-Watson and former No. 1 Gerek Meinhardt.
The women’s foil team, which is ranked No. 3 in the world, consists of Lee Kiefer, Nzingha Prescod, Nicole Ross and Margaret Lu.
Olympic team bronze medalists Kelley and Courtney Hurley lead the women’s epee squad, which also includes Katharine Holmes and Anna van Brummen.
Daryl Homer, a 2012 Olympian who became the first U.S. man to win a medal in saber at the world championships by capturing silver this week, leads the men’s saber team. Also on that squad are Eli Dershwitz, Peter Souders and Jeff Spear.
The finals in women’s and men’s saber are Friday, followed by women’s and men’s epee Saturday, and women’s and men’s foil Sunday. After those rounds, the U.S. team will head to Toronto for the fencing competition in the Pan American Games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Universal Sports
Paul D. Bowker is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.