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Sarra Besbes

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Sarra Besbes
Besbes at the 2015 World Fencing Championships
Personal information
Born (1989-02-05) 5 February 1989 (age 35)
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st)
Sport
Country Tunisia
Weaponépée
Handleft-handed
ClubVGA Saint-Maur
Head coachDaniel Levavasseur
FIE rankingcurrent ranking
Medal record
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Moscow Individual
African Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Dakar Individual
Gold medal – first place 2010 Tunis Individual
Gold medal – first place 2011 Cairo Individual
Gold medal – first place 2012 Casablanca Individual
Gold medal – first place 2013 Cape Town Individual
Gold medal – first place 2014 Cairo Individual
Gold medal – first place 2015 Cairo Individual
Gold medal – first place 2016 Algiers Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Algiers Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Casablanca Individual
African Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Salé Individual Épée
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place 2009 Pescara Individual
Silver medal – second place 2013 Mersin Individual

Sarra Besbes (Arabic: سارة بسباس; born 5 February 1989) is a Tunisian épée fencer, seven-time gold medallist at the African Fencing Championships. She represented Tunisia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, placing eighth, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, placing fifth.

Personal life

Besbes was born in a sports family: her father Ali is a former basketball player, who became a physical education teacher; her mother Hayet Ben Ghazi is a former foil fencer, who became an international referee.[1] Her parents settled in Abu Dhabi before she was born. They had all their children–daughters Sarra, Azza, Héla and Rym, and son Ahmed Aziz–take up fencing. Azza and Héla are sabre fencers, while Ahmed Aziz is an epeist. Sarra herself fenced foil until the 2006–07 season before switching to épée.

Career

At the 2011 World Championships in Catania, Besbes noticed she would fight an Israeli athlete during the qualifications phase. She asked the Tunisian Fencing Federation for instructions; the Ministry of Youth and Sports ordered her to drop the bout as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.[2] Instead of refusing the fight, which would have resulted in sanctions, Besbes remained completely passive during her bout against Israeli Noam Mills, allowing the latter to strike without offering any resistance.[3] This 5–0 defeat affected her seeding: in her first direct elimination bout she met eventual gold medallist China's Li Na of China and was largely overcome. Besbes commented afterwards: “I did my duty.”[2]

She qualified to the individual event of the 2012 Summer Olympics as the top-ranked female épée fencer for Africa. She defeated China's Xiaojuan Luo in the round of 32 and Korea Choi In-jeong in the round of 16, but was defeated in the quarter-finals by eventual silver medallist Britta Heidemann of Germany.[4]

During the 2014–15 season Besbes was selected by the Tunisian Olympic Committee to be part of a special preparation programme for Rio 2016. She climbed her first World Cup podium with a gold medal in Buenos Aires, this made her the first Tunisian fencer of either gender to win a World Cup event.[5]

She won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships.[6]

Besbes again qualified to the individual event of the 2016 Summer Olympics, and reached the quarterfinal. She was ultimately ranked 5th.

References

  1. ^ Frida Dahmani (30 July 2012). "Les quatre filles du professeur Besbes". Jeune Afrique (in French).
  2. ^ a b "Sarra Besbes : " Je m'en fiche… j'ai fait mon devoir "" (in French). koora.com. 19 October 2010.
  3. ^ Marco Ansaldo (11 October 2011). "Immobile in pedana, tunisina boicotta Israele ai Mondiali". La Stampa (in Italian).
  4. ^ "Sarra Besbes Olympic results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
  5. ^ "Fencer - BESBES Sarra - TUNISIA - FIE - International Fencing Federation". fie.org. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  6. ^ "Fencer - BESBES Sarra - TUNISIA - FIE - International Fencing Federation". fie.org. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
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