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.
| Sarra Besbes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Besbes at the 2015 World Fencing Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 February 1989 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Tunisia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Fencing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weapon | épée | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hand | left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | VGA Saint-Maur | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Daniel Levavasseur | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIE ranking | current ranking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal life edit
Besbes was born into 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]
Career edit
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's Choi In-jeong in the round of 16 but was defeated in the quarterfinals 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.
She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[7]
References edit
- ^ Frida Dahmani (30 July 2012). "Les quatre filles du professeur Besbes". Jeune Afrique (in French).
- ^ a b "Sarra Besbes : " Je m'en fiche… j'ai fait mon devoir "" (in French). koora.com. 19 October 2010. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ Marco Ansaldo (11 October 2011). "Immobile in pedana, tunisina boicotta Israele ai Mondiali". La Stampa (in Italian).
- ^ "Sarra Besbes Olympic results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
- ^ "Fencer - BESBES Sarra - TUNISIA - FIE - International Fencing Federation". fie.org. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
- ^ "Fencer - BESBES Sarra - TUNISIA - FIE - International Fencing Federation". fie.org. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
- ^ "Fencing BESBES Sarra". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
External links edit
- Sarra Besbes at the International Fencing Federation
- Sarra Besbes at Olympics.com
- Sarra Besbes at Olympedia
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