On February 11th, 12th and 13th, Barcelona dresses up to celebrate a new edition of the “Trofeu Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona de esgrima”, after last season this prestigious tournament could not be played due to the pandemic.
In this edition of the World Cup it will be noted that a new Olympic cycle has been entered, since there will be 97 debutants in this tournament. Despite this, the fencing level of the participants continues to be very high with 31 of the top 50 classified in the FIE ranking, including numerous fencers who have been part of the last podiums of the Olympic Games, the World Championship, the European Championships, Asia and America. The current number 2 in the world, the Estonian Katrina Lehis, who was the winner of the last edition of the “Ciutat de Barcelona” and who was a bronze medalist at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, starts as the great favorite. And they won’t make things easy for her by fencers like the Koreans Injeong Choi and Man Wai Vivian Kong, current world number 4 and 7, two of the best Asian épée fencers of all time, or the épée fencer with the most future prospects, the young transalpine Federica Isola (current world number 8), who has just won an Olympic diploma last summer and finished third in the World Cup in Tallinn. Also among the favorites are the French Marie Florence Candassamy and Alexandra Louise Marie, both classified in the world top 10 thanks to the brilliant season they are having, with a podium also in Tallinn. And, despite only being located at the current number 22 in the world ranking, we cannot forget the Brazilian veteran Nathalie Moellhausen, current World Champion, in what will be her fourteenth participation in Barcelona.
We have three exciting days of quality fencing ahead of us, unfortunately due to COVID-19 the public will not be able to attend. In any case, the monitoring of the competition is guaranteed thanks to the fact that what happens on the 8 main strips of the competition venue will be broadcast live via streaming.