Preview: Foilists fix their sights on Americas gold

17/10/2022

The first International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) Wheelchair Fencing Americas Championships since 2018 will get underway in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 22 October.

The competition will be broadcast live at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing website.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the fantastic foilists who are looking to make an impact.

Women’s foil

In the category A Brazil’s Karina Maia is the returning champion.

Hoping to retain the title she won in 2018 in Montreal, Canada, Maia will face a series of threats.

Her teammate Carminha Oliveira is the current top ranked athlete in the foil from the whole of the Americas, having made serious progress since taking-up wheelchair fencing in 2016.

The USA’s Shelby Jensen will also be hoping to improve on her bronze medal from four years ago.

Men’s foil

Sticking with the hosts, Brazil’s Jovane Guissone is the headline act in a couple of weapons including the foil category B.

Guissone is unbeaten at this level since 2011 and won gold at the opening World Cup of the season earlier in 2022.

The Argentinian duo of Vanderson Luis Chaves, the silver medallist from last time around, and Hugo Alderete, the bronze medallist, are also set to make an appearance.

Hoping to make an impact in his first international competition since 2020 is the USA’s defending champion, Byron Branch, in the category A.

Branch’s last appearance came at a World Cup in 2020 and since then two Brazilians have moved in on his territory in the world rankings.

They are Fabio Luiz Damasceno and Alex Sandro Souza. The pair are seeded next to each other and Souza claimed silver in 2018 whilst Damasceno grabbed bronze.

Sandro Colaco, also from Brazil, is another fencer who sits close to his teammates in the current rankings and claimed his own bronze at the 2016 edition of the Americas Championships.

Argentina, Canada, the USA and Brazil are all set to compete in the men’s foil team on 24 October.

About the 2022 IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Americas Championships

Sao Paulo 2022 runs from 22-25 October and follows the under 23 World Championships being held from 19-21 October in the same location.

As well as the live broadcast, pictures will be available for editorial use here.