Richmond fencer Shaul Gordon capped an impressive showing for Richmond athletes at the Pan American Games in Toronto by winning silver in the men’s sabre team event.
The University of Pennsylvania student’s performance gave local athletes six medals — including gold for Evan Dunfee (race walk) and Nathan Hirayama (Rugby Sevens), along with a trio of silver medals for swimmers Noemie Thomas and Luke Reilly.
Gordon and Joseph Polossifakis were trying to help 39-year-old teammate Mark Peros close out his career on top of the podium. Instead, the Canadians lost a hard-fought 45-37 battle to the United States.
“They are very good fencers,” said Gordon of the Americans, “We started off strong. It was Mark’s last competition and we battled. Personally, I made some technical mistakes near the end of the match, and even though they were little things, it’s what makes the difference.
“While we’re disappointed, (winning a Pan Am Medal) is still incredible, especially that I did it with these two guys. It’s been a nice journey.”
The men’s team, led by national coach Benjamin Manano, started their day off with a dominant performance against Colombia, whom they beat by a wide margin, 45-25.
The Canadian men then faced off against the Venezuelan team, who gave the Canadians all they could handle in 45-40 semi-final match.
Canada finished with over 200 medals for the first time in the history of the Pan Am Games and finished second to the US (265-217) in the final medal standings. It was Canada’s highest overall finish in five decades.
