Luciana García, member of the Paraguayan Sports Elite and owner of eight medals, will seek to have a good performance in the next Asu 2022 South American Games, which will be held from October 1 to 15.
Adrenaline, strategy, agility, elegance, are some of the attributes of fencing, this sport has been included in all the Olympic Games since 1898, its origins date back to the year 1200. Modern fencing is a sport of entertainment and competition, but follows rules and techniques that have been developed since its inception for dueling.
Great strategists such as President Theodor Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were former fencer practitioners. On guard, ready…forward! These are the guidelines that start the tournaments, and that, in 2019, led Luciana García to first place on the podium, at the South American Children’s and Veterans Fencing Championship in São Paulo, winning the historic gold medal for Paraguay.
Today he continues to reap successes, winning two silver medals, at the 2021 South American Fencing Pre-cadet, Cadet and Junior in Ibagué, Colombia, 1 for teams and 1 Individual Pre-cadet. Obtaining in the month of May, another silver medal in the II South American Youth Games of Rosario, in saber mode.
The Champion “Luci”, as her friends call her, comments because she feels so passionate about this discipline. “It’s the emotion you feel when shooting, the pride of representing the country and listening to the national anthem, my flag, while supporting the team. My first coach, he was a friend of my parents, he showed me this sport and I fell in love. And my current coach, Juan Antonio Lucas, who is the one I train with every day here at the Paraguayan Olympic Committee (COP), motivates me to keep going, giving my best.”
“My days start very early, because in the morning I go to school, then I go to the COP. There I do physiotherapy, gymnastics and then at 5:00 p.m., the actual training begins. In short, they are the classes, training, assaults and everything that this sport entails. I have my nutritionist at the COP, who accompanies me in all the processes, now my diet is to lose weight. Sometimes I go off track with sweet things, for example, with chocolate” asserted the fencer.
The athlete trains practically all day in the Committee and spends a lot of time with her friends, “because they are also fencing athletes, it is a very united group,” said Luciana, who wears pink tights as a cabal, “I always use them for tournaments, because if I wear them they bring me luck”.
At the same time, “Luci” mentioned a funny moment in his last competition in Colombia. “Competing in the final, I went through an uncomfortable situation, since the podium tracks are higher, I made an arrow that is practically running to touch the other person, I fell, and with me they fell and the cables of the lights became entangled from the podium, we had to wait a little while, which seemed like an eternity, for everything to be restored. These Games mean a greater commitment, wanting to give your best but also great support from your loved ones. It is your house, you feel that emotion”.
The tournaments during the XII South American Games ASU2022 will be held on the premises of the National Sports Secretariat of Paraguay, where the Paraguayan Federation of Table Tennis Stadium (FPTM) is located. Where, the Table Tennis and Fencing competitions will take place respectively. Several international events have been held on this stage, which also has a space capable of holding 12 fields, which will be divided into four for competition and eight for athletes to warm up.
The athlete refers very enthusiastically to the reconditioning works, in the sports spaces, that are carried out in the COP and in the SND, affirming that: “It is a great support to national sport, to the development of athletes, I am sure that several future champions will come out of here”. She concluded by saying: Asu2022 is going to leave a great legacy in infrastructure, I think that these South Americans are going to motivate many people to discover and try disciplines that are not so well known”.
Read more: Paraguay prepares Asu2022 despite infrastructure challenges
