OLYMPIC FENCING TEAM TO BE NAMED IN DOLTON

By MARLENE COOK, Dolton Community Relations Director

The 1992 United States Olympic Fencing Team to compete in Barcelona, Spain, this summer will be chosen in Dolton during final competition June 6-14.

The United States Fencing Association, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will crown champions in each of five weapons (men's foil, women's foil, men's epee, women's epee and men's sabre) within three categories. In addition, a Senior Age Tournament (over 40) will be conducted. All winners, except the women's epee, will go on to compete in Spain July 25-August 9.

The goal of the women's epee fencers this season is Cuba, not Barcelona. Because women's epee is not yet an Olympic event, but is being considered for future Olympic Games, the Federation Internationale d'Escrime (International Fencing Federation) will hold the 1992 Women's Epee World Championship in Havana, Cuba. Five will be chosen for the team based on point standings after the '92 National Championships/Final Olympic Trials in Dolton.

Fencers have been competing for qualifying points since late last year with events in Louisville, Ky., Portland, Ore., Kansas City, Mo., Hendron, Va., Detroit, Mich., Genoa, Italy, and Bonn, Germany. The 1992 National Championships in Dolton will be the final opportunity for fencers to earn points for selection to the '92 Olympic Team.

The sport of fencing is fast and athletic, a far cry from the choreographed bouts seen on film or stage. Instead of swinging from a chandelier or leaping from balconies, you will see two fencers performing on intense dance on a six-foot by 40-foot strip. The movement is so fast the touches are scored electrically. It becomes more like Star Wars than Captain Blood.

Dolton, celebrating its Centennial, is rolling out the red carpet to welcome the fencers and their fans and families and will utilize the quaint municipal Jolly Trolley to transport them from the Harvey Holiday Inn to the Dolton Expo Center.

Dolton Mayor J. Michael Peck met with Carla-Mae Richards, executive director of the USAF, and her colleagues last summer to invite them to Dolton with a promise of support and enthusiasm.

Mayor Peck said, "Experts have told us that the south suburbs can expect to see more than $1,000,000 spent in local businesses during the games. And the value of the publicity that will follow this event is beyond imagination."

The Olympic trials are expected to attract more than 1,200 participants from throughout the United States, plus television and media crews and a large audience. "The group has reserved 200 rooms each night of their ten-day stay.

The Dolton Exposition Center, that opened last August, is the largest meeting facility south of Chicago's McCormick Place offering 46,000 square feet of exhibit space, plus 22,000 square feet of meeting rooms.

The activities of the U.S. Fencing Association will begin June 5 with a welcoming party for the sports officials, press and area dignitaries. The following morning the official bouts will begin. After each final competition, awards will be presented by local sponsors and USFA officials.

Mayor Peck, Village Clerk Helen Berg and Trustees Mullen, Panozzo, Herzog, Hart, Myers and Lewis, cordially invite all those interested in seeing an event of a lifetime in south suburbia, to visit Dolton between June 6 and 14. The welcome mat is out! •

May 1992 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 5