Sarra Besbes ( ar, سارة بسباس; born 5 February 1989) is a Tunisian

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

fencer, seven-time gold medallist at the

African Fencing Championships The African Fencing Championships (french: link=no, Championnats d'Afrique d'escrime) are an annual top-level fencing (sport), fencing tournament organized by the African Fencing Confederation. They serve as zone championships for the Fencing World ...

. She represented Tunisia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, placing eighth, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, placing fifth.

Personal life

Besbes was born into a sports family: her father, Ali is a former basketball player who became a physical education teacher; her mother, Hayet Ben Ghazi, is a former foil fencer who became an international referee.

Career

At the 2011 World Championships in Catania, Besbes noticed she would fight an Israeli athlete during the qualifications phase. She asked the

Tunisian Fencing Federation Tunisian may refer to: * Someone or something connected to Tunisia *Tunisian Arabic *Tunisian people *Tunisian cuisine * Tunisian culture Tunisian culture is a product of more than three thousand years of history and an important multi-ethnic ...

for instructions; the Ministry of Youth and Sports ordered her to drop the bout as part of the

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations ...

campaign. Instead of refusing the fight, which would have resulted in sanctions, Besbes remained completely passive during her bout against Israeli

Noam Mills Noam Mills ( he, נעם מילס; born May 27, 1986) is an Israeli fencer, who competed in the individual women's épée event for Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She is a three-time junior Israeli champion in épée, and a four-t ...

, allowing the latter to strike without offering any resistance. This 5–0 defeat affected her seeding: in her first direct elimination bout, she met eventual gold medallist China's

Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...

of China and was largely overcome. Besbes commented afterwards: “I did my duty.” She qualified to the individual event of the 2012 Summer Olympics as the top-ranked female épée fencer for Africa. She defeated China's Xiaojuan Luo in the round of 32 and Korea's Choi In-jeong in the round of 16 but was defeated in the quarterfinals by eventual silver medallist

Britta Heidemann Britta Heidemann (born 22 December 1982) is a German épée fencer. In 2016, Heidemann became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Career Épée Fencing At the age of 14, already being a successful athlete and swimmer, Brit ...

of Germany. During the 2014–15 season, Besbes was selected by the

Tunisian Olympic Committee The Tunisian Olympic Committee (IOC code: TUN) is the National Olympic Committee that represents Tunisia in the Olympic Movement. It was founded and recognized by the IOC in 1957. It is based in Tunis. It is member of the International Olympic Co ...

to be part of a special preparation programme for

Rio 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. She climbed her first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

podium with a gold medal in Buenos Aires; this made her the first Tunisian fencer of either gender to win a World Cup event. She won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships. Besbes again qualified to the individual event of the 2016 Summer Olympics, and reached the quarterfinal. She was ultimately ranked 5th. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

* 1989 births Living people Tunisian female épée fencers Olympic fencers for Tunisia Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics People from Abu Dhabi Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Tunisia Fencers at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Fencers at the 2013 Mediterranean Games African Games gold medalists for Tunisia African Games medalists in fencing Mediterranean Games medalists in fencing Competitors at the 2015 African Games Competitors at the 2019 African Games Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Tunisian women 21st-century Tunisian people {{Tunisia-fencing-bio-stub