Olympian from Hamilton, Ontario won Canada’s first Olympic medal in fencing

The Hamiton-born Olympian Eleanor Harvey is back from Paris after winning Canada’s first Olympic medal in fencing.

INsauga.com spoke with Harvey about her win for bronze in women’s foil, the steps it took to get there and what it was like maneuvering Ontario’s scarce fencing community as a young female athlete. 

“I just didn’t have a gauge of how good I was. Because, I didn’t have kids my age, especially in women’s foil, to compare myself to in Ontario,” Harvey told INsauga.com. 

Harvey’s journey into fencing started in Hamilton when she was 10, where she immediately set her sights on going to the Olympics.

Her initial activity of choice was karate, however, upon learning that karate was not an Olympic sport (at the time), she decided to take her chances with a blade instead of her fists. 

“My first tournament was about three weeks after I started fencing, and I started doing really well, but then I realized that there weren’t many people to fence in Hamilton, so I then started going to tournaments all over Ontario and Quebec,” says Harvey

However, due to continued scarcity throughout Ontario, her roster of opponents who could match her skill remained in short supply. 

By age 11, Harvey had no choice but to step out of the limitations she had been presented with. 

“There was one girl I was fencing with who matched my skill level, everyone else in my division was mostly recreational. So, I would mostly fence against boys, teenagers and even adults,” says Harvey. 

From that point on, throughout her teenage years, Harvey worked with a handful of coaches to relentlessly pursue fencing; all while keeping her sights on her childhood goal to one day compete in the Olympics. 

Harvey would then make her first Olympic appearance at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where she would go on to defeat the world’s number-one-ranked fencer and advance to the quarterfinals. Harvey then competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and helped Canada place fifth in the team foil division. 

However, at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris — at age 29 — Harvey would skyrocket to win Canada’s first-ever medal for fencing in Olympic history. 

“I was just thinking that — for me — this is an opportunity. I can still win that medal. So I went into it not wanting to defend while being scared, wanting to take risks, wanting to trust myself and just let myself be free,” says Harvey. 

Harvey faced Italy’s Alice Volpi for bronze, a fierce competitor and a fencer who Harvey had been simultaneously competing with and admiring for some time. 

“Going into that bout was super interesting because I have competed against Volpi a lot of times, and for the last five or six years, she has been super dominant on the women’s international scene — a lot of gold medals,” says Harvey. 

However, in every match Harvey has had with Volpi, Harvey would often come out on top, which she would then go on to use to her advantage in Paris. 

“She’s strong, she has a very different style than me but I would rather fence her at the end of the day than at the beginning of the day,” says Harvey. 

In the Paris match, Harvey maintained a solid lead against Volpi until an inevitable comeback led to a nail-bitingly close game. That was until Harvey secured a winning point in the final minutes and won bronze for Canada. 

“When it happened, I was in complete shock, and over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been able to come to terms with it. It’s really validating to have objective proof that I am one of the strongest fencers in the world and that everything I’ve done to get to this point just makes more sense,” says Harvey. 

Now back home, Harvey aims to refine her skills even further and continue her pursuit of a sport she holds dominion over.

“I believe I am getting better over time, so the focus will be being in a position where I can continue physically… see how it can go, and be ready for the next one.”