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Ruben Limardo: after 44 years, Venezuela has another Olympic gold
Reading about Rubén Limardo might make some less anxious to see Canada finally get the gold at London 2012. This country has waited a week to hear its anthem at the Summer Olympics. Limardo's win in the men's épée on Wednesday was Venezuela's first gold in 44 years — and that previous win had been its only one.
And it came from a 5-foot-9 fencer, in a sport where reaches helps a lot, beating Norway's 6-foot-5 Bartosz Piasecki in the gold-medal match. That was after he beat the top two ranked fencers in épee in earlier matches.
It kind of lends some perspective to Canada's hunt for gold, not that one should only see it through red-and-white coloured glasses. Venezuela, is renowned for its passion for baseball, but the country's never even won more than two medals in a non-boycotted Games.
Limardo winning, much to the obvious delight of a small Venezuelan cheering section, it was practically a national holiday in a country gripped by political tension. President Hugo Chavez's phone call with Limardo actually got played during a televised news conference.
Chavez, who is campaigning for another six-year term ahead of the 7 October election, echoed the public's jubilation during a lengthy televised news conference, smiling broadly when a telephone call from Limardo was patched through to the hall.
Over a crackling line, a clearly moved Limardo thanked the president: "Thanks to you, I've truly accomplished my dream ... now we continue increasing our efforts for more Olympic medals."
"I'm very happy, brother, son of this fatherland," Chavez told him. "There are the results! With the work of our golden generation of athletes. What pride, what patriotic emotion!"
His surprise win created a brief moment of unity in a nation that is deeply polarised ahead of the election. Both sides accuse the other of foul play during a bitter campaign, and many Venezuelans were happy to focus on some good news from abroad.
Social media websites were swamped with pictures from Limardo's victory, and local TV stations repeatedly broadcast footage of his bouts and the medal ceremony, which included the playing of Venezuela's national anthem. (Reuters)
In the fencing arena (or whatever they call it), the novelty was enhanced because fencing is the province of affluent, elite European and other Western countries. The last fencing gold medal to come from the region came in 1908, coincidentally also in London.
This almost sounds like it was Rocky with foils. Even before his final two matches, Limardo made fans .
From Jonathan Liew, who watched Limardo beat Switzerland's Max Heizler:
It would be unfair to say I took an instant dislike to him, but the way he fist-pumped after scoring a point had a distinct whiff of Federer-esque arrogance about it.
Twice, as Limardo lunged at him, he wriggled out of the way and then jabbed his opponent in the back.
This, though a legitimate tactic, seemed dishonourable. Later, I discovered that when you visit his personal website, it attempts to charge you for access. Ladies and gentlemen, we had a villain.
Limardo, just 5ft 9in and giving away a significant reach advantage, had one strategy only: attack. (The Telegraph)
Some time toward the end of the Olympics, someone will glance over the full medal standings and probably not even notice the '1' in the gold column next to Venezuela. They won't know how much it was appreciated; it's surprises such as that which make the Olympics bearable.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
