8/15/2008
Valley Catholic grad grabs gold once again
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| Valley Catholic grad grabs gold once again |
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The last time she won Olympic gold, U.S. fencer Mariel Zagunis did not wait long to visit her beloved school, Valley Catholic in Beaverton. That was after the Athens games in 2004, when Zagunis claimed the prize in women’s saber, becoming the first American to win a gold medal in fencing in a century.
“Hard work pays off, and that’s the moral of the story,” she told an assembly of awestruck students.
Now that she has triumphed again in Beijing, chances are Zagunis will be welcomed back for another speech at Valley Catholic, where she graduated in 2003.
“Everybody here is thrilled for Mariel, not just because she graduated from Valley Catholic in 2003, but because of the kind of person she was when she was here,” says Ross Thomas, principal at Valley Catholic High. “She was always extremely responsible about her assignments despite her world travel and intense fencing career. She is very well thought of, was friends with almost everyone, and really was just one of the gang.”
The 23-year-old University of Notre Dame student won the medal last week, watched by a crowd that included President Bush. After close calls in her first two bouts against Cuban and Polish adversaries, Zagunis won succeeding matches convincingly over her U.S. teammates. She told the Oregonian that early on, she was nervous, and thinking too much. Later, she trusted instinct.
After the win, Zagunis wept upon seeing her coach and family.
A tear rolled down her face again during the medal ceremony.
In 2006, Zagunis postponed her college education to focus on the 2008 games. She moved from the South Bend, Ind. campus back to Portland to train.
Zagunis caught the eye of Oregon Catholics as early as 2001, when at age 16 she claimed saber world championships.
“It’s not a very popular sport,” she told the Sentinel then. “No one knows a great deal about it.”
Her coach Ed Korfanty at the Oregon Fencing Alliance said then that the only challenge left for Mariel was the Olympics. Korfanty, a Polish immigrant who came to the United States in 1990, was a fencing coach at Notre Dame before moving to Oregon in 1994. He has always been impressed by Zagunis’ hand speed.
She comes from a family of fencers and athletes. Her parents Kathy and Robert met in at the 1976 Montreal Olympics when both were on the U.S. rowing team.
On the rear view mirror of her car, Zagunis has been known to hang a rainbow-colored sign that reads, “I Heart Jesus.”
Zagunis, when she returns to school, may study sports medicine or physical therapy, in addition to the theological requirements at Notre Dame.
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