Slovak representant Cedrik Serri during the European Games at Kraków. (source: Olympic.sk/Andrej Galica)
The ideal age for a fencer is between 26 to 28 years. By then, they have gained enough experience, but their explosiveness has not started to decline.
However, many fencers in Slovakia do not last until this age. Though it cannot be said that Slovakia has no fencing tradition - Katarína Lokšová Ráczová competed in three Olympic Games (1972, 1976 and 1980) and finished second in the 1978 World Championships; Attila Érsek was a junior European champion in 2003, to name a few - it is impossible to make a living. After a certain age, the athletes prefer to study or work.
At the 2023 European Games in Kraków (June 21 - July 2), Slovakia was represented by a seven-member fencing team: foil fencers Cedrik Serri, Leopold-Marc Kuchta, Ákos Pirk, Árpád Fazekas and Gaia Cantucci, and épée fencers Lukas Jakub Johanides and Alex Vladimír Duduc.
What they put in your hand
Each of them was drawn to fencing by something different.
The sport runs in the family of some - Ákos Pirk, Leopold Kuchta, or a native of France, Cedrik Serri. Árpád Fazekas gave fencing a try because his kindergarten classmates were doing it; Alex Duduc liked to swing sticks from an early age; when Lukáš Johanides was 8 he saw a broadcast of the fencing competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympic game and declared that he wanted to participate in the sport. All were also lucky to have grown up in cities with a fencing club.
