Rebecca Ward

Background

Ward was born in Grand Junction, Colorado, to Bill and Beth Ward.

Education

Duke University.

Career

In 2014, her nomination to be inducted into the United States.A. Fencing hall of fame was approved. She has a brother by the name of Wiliam Ward. Ward was home schooled.

She is Legislative Correspondent on the staff of United States Senator Jeff Merkley and Saber Program Director for the Arlington Fencers" Club in Arlington, Virginia.

As of June 2007, Ward was ranked first in the world in both Official and World Cup rankings for senior women sabre fencers. As of July 2007, Ward was the number-one-ranked senior women"s sabre fencer in the United States and on the Foundation for International Education Rankings.

Ward fenced for Duke University under Maître Alex Beguinet while working towards majors in Public Policy and Psychology as well as a Certificate in Energy and the Environment. Ward graduated Duke with a 272-7 (975) record, making her the school"s all time wins leader.

Ward was one of the top seeds for the individual sabre competition.

She then defeated Orsolya Nagy of Hungary in the round of 16, 15-5. In the quarterfinals, she beat Tunisia"s Azza Besbes, 15-14, in a match decided by one final touch. Shortly after, Ward fenced in the bronze medal bout, where she defeated Russia"s Sofia Velikaya 15-14.

This assured that American fencers would sweep all three medals prior to the actual final bout, in which Sada Jacobson faced Mariel Zagunis for the gold.

Ward teamed up with Jacobson and Zagunis to defeat the South African team in the quarterfinals, 45-8. In the semifinals, they fenced Ukraine.

The Ukrainians, seeded fifth in the tournament, defeated the favored United States team 45-39, denying them a gold medal, and placing them in the bronze medal bout against France.

Achievements

• She won the gold medal at the sabre 2006 World Fencing Championships after beating Mariel Zagunis 15-11 in the final, and took bronze in both individual and team sabre events at the She also won the women"s National Collegiate Athletic Association national individual sabre championship three times (2009, 2011, 2012), the first in history to do so in sabre. A member of the Oregon Fencing Alliance (OFA), she trained with Editor Korfanty and Jacek Huchwajda and has won a record number of world titles for a female sabre fencer in 2006. Cadet (U17), Junior (U20), Junior Team and Senior. Ward won the Grand Prix in Las Vegas and gave up only 30 points of a possible 90 (an average of only five points in each 15-point bout). On Sunday March 22, 2009, she won the women"s National Collegiate Athletic Association national individual sabre title. In 2012, she captured her third National Collegiate Athletic Association championship by defeating Penn State"s Monica Aksamit, becoming the first three-time individual sabre winner in National Collegiate Athletic Association history. She won her first bout, against Spain"s Araceli Navarro, when her opponent was forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury (Ward was winning 12-7 at the time). In the semifinals, Ward faced defending Olympic champion Mariel Zagunis, with whom she trained regularly at the Oregon Fencing Alliance. She lost the bout 15-11 to Zagunis, who would go on to win the gold medal. In the women"s sabre team event, the United States was heavily favored to win the team event. The United States of America team rebounded from their semifinal loss by defeating the French team 45-38, with Ward making the final touch of the bout, and Ward earned her second bronze medal of the Olympics.

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She failed to defend her title in 2010, losing the final match to Caroline Vloka of Harvard. On Sunday, March 27, 2011, Ward defeated Vloka in the women"s sabre National Collegiate Athletic Association semifinal, and went on to reclaim her title by defeating Princeton"s Eliza Stone 15-12 in the gold-medal match.