McMaster fencing attends celebration of first Canadian Olympic fencing medalist, Marauder women's foilist demonstrates the sport with the history-making athlete
On the evening of Wednesday Nov. 14, 2024, members of the Hamilton community celebrated Hamiltonian and Olympic fencer Eleanor Harvey for making history at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this past summer.
On the second day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 29-year-old foil fencer won the bronze medal in women's individual foil after defeating opponent Alice Volpi of Italy 15-12.
With this, she became the first Canadian in history to win an Olympic medal in fencing. No Canadian before Harvey competing in any of the three disciplines of fencing - foil, épée and sabre - had ever brought home a medal from the Olympics.
No Canadian before Harvey competing in any of the three disciplines of fencing - foil, épée and sabre - had ever brought home a medal from the Olympics.
The celebration of her accomplishment was held in downtown Hamilton in The King John Building at Gore Park. The event was hosted by Hamilton artist Patrick Bermingham.
Over 100 individuals were in attendance, including the Mayor of Hamilton, Andrea Horwath, who briefly spoke at the event and congratulated Harvey on her success. Journalist Steve Paikin attended and interviewed Harvey about her career and what it was like in the heat of the moment just before and after winning her medal in the Grand Palais in Paris.
Also in attendance were some members of McMaster's varsity fencing team, as well as Head Coach Dave O'Donnell and coaches Allan Fein and Vickie Ho-Devine. Before the formal part of the event, several Marauder fencers had the opportunity to meet and speak with Harvey.
Later during the formal celebration, Harvey demonstrated foil fencing to everyone in attendance with Marauder foilist Aurora Boone. The two fenced a bout against one another in the centre of the venue, with all the attendees watching along the side of the room.
During the formal celebration, Harvey demonstrated foil fencing to everyone in attendance with Marauder foilist Aurora Boone.
After the event, Boone spoke to The Silhouette about what it was like to fence with the ground-breaking Olympian. She described the nerves she came into the match with.
"I was definitely nervous. I did end up getting a point on her which I was really happy about so I didn't get totally wiped. But yeah, I was definitely nervous. But once I got into it, I felt like the nerves kind of flew away. We were surrounded by a huge crowd of people and I had pretty much totally forgotten that once we actually started fencing. So I was pretty excited,” said Boone.
Boone also described the high level of skill which Harvey possessed and demonstrated. Boone tried to trick Harvey several times into following a pattern and then catching her off guard by changing that pattern, but Harvey would not fall for it.
“She was incredibly skilled at knowing that I was trying to fool her in that sense, so she didn't fall for it, which definitely showed me a lot of her strength because usually even the strongest of fencers, it's really hard for them to pinpoint those little intricacies,” said Boone.
The event and the match has inspired Boone for the current McMaster fencing season.
“I think it's definitely given me a lot of inspiration and a bit of a fire under me to feel like this is how good you can be when you really put in the work and you do a lot of practice,” said Boone.
Eleanor Harvey's Olympic medal is a moment in history for Canadian fencing. Following her Olympic medal, Harvey has already won another bronze medal at the women's foil world cup in Tunisia and she looks forward to achieving more success in the future.
Students and athletes participate in Marathon of Sport event to raise money for the Special Olympics programs
Motionball McMaster hosted a Marathon of Sport on Mar. 18 at the Wentworth Sports Complex in support of the Special Olympics Canada Foundation.
A non-profit organization, motionball was founded in 2002 by brothers Paul, Mark and Sean Etherington in support of the Special Olympics movement. Through both social and sporting events, motionball helps raise funds for the Special Olympics Canada Foundation and their goal of enhancing the well-being of individuals with intellectual disabilities through sport.
Headed by event directors Emily Van Berkel and Gurleen Sandhu, the Marathon of Sport gave members within the McMaster University community an opportunity to engage with Special Olympic athletes. The day marked the sixth time that McMaster has been able to host a Marathon of Sport and the first time the event has ran in-person since the start of the pandemic.
“Both of us had only ever attended or been a part of the online events these past three years. . . I’ve never been to any in-person [Marathons of Sport] before the one we had [on March 18], so that was really exciting to finally have it back in-person,” said Sandhu.
Throughout the event, teams were able to take part in a variety of games and activities, including soccer, bocce ball, bench ball and seated balloon volleyball. Competing in these sports allowed for a fun and collaborative athletic experience for teams to promote fundraising and awareness for Special Olympic athletes and organizations.
“I was talking with some parents at our event and they were just saying how incredible it is that their children or their grandchildren have the space to come and participate with university students. . . It’s like a soul-filling, energy-giving day and it’s awesome,” explained Van Berkel.
“I was talking with some parents at our event and they were just saying how incredible it is that their children or their grandchildren have the space to come and participate with university students. . . It’s like a soul-filling, energy-giving day and it’s awesome,”
Emily Van Berkel, Marathon of Sport Event Director
Direct donations were made to support athletes through their motionball sponsorship page for participating universities and teams on the Marathon of Sport leaderboard. Along with their other team members, Van Berkel and Sandhu have helped to raise $3753 for their Executive Committee motionball team at McMaster and over $8000 at the event overall.
Of the donations raised for each Marathon of Sport hosted at participating universities and local chapters, motionball allocates 70 per cent of the funds to Special Olympics Ontario and programs for local community athletes.
A quarter of the donations are sent directly to the Special Olympics Canada Foundation while 5 per cent is directed towards the #NoGoodWay campaign to eliminate the use of the “r-word” in everyday conversation.
“When you actually go to the event in-person, you meet all the athletes. You get a better sense of what you’re really donating to, where your money is going, the people that it’s really affecting. . . A lot of people end up donating after the event is over as well,” said Sandhu.
“When you actually go to the event in-person, you meet all the athletes. You get a better sense of what you’re really donating to, where your money is going, the people that it’s really affecting. . . A lot of people end up donating after the event is over as well,”
Gurleen Sandhu, Marathon of Sport Event Director
For those who were unable to take part in the event, motionball Hamilton will be hosting a Marathon of Sport on Jun. 24, 2023 at Hillfield Strathallan College. Participants can register as either a Corporate Team with their participating organization’s employees or a Standard Team and will be partnered with one to two Special Olympic athletes on the day of the event.
With chapters across 18 Canadian cities and 35 university campuses, motionball provides multiple opportunities for interested individuals to become involved as organizing committee members or volunteers at their events.
