Peter Westbrook Foundation's (PWF) Nzingha Prescod Wins Historic Gold Medal at World Fencing Championships
WUXI, China, Aug. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Peter Westbrook Foundation's (PWF) star athletes squared off against the best fencers in the world last week at the 2018 World Fencing Championships in Wuxi, China. The world championships is one of the premier events in the sport of fencing. This year, the PWF sent one of the largest contingents of athletes at the event with three of its members representing Team USA. Olympic Silver Medalist, Daryl Homer, Two-time Olympian Nzingha Prescod and Team National Champion Curtis McDowald were all selected as the top fencers in their respective disciplines to represent the PWF and the United States of America at the event.
Highlighting the event, Nzingha Prescod, won the Gold Medal in the Women's Team Foil competition. The historic win was the first women's foil World Championship title for the United States in the history of the event. After just falling short of the gold medal in 2017, the USA Women's Foil squad would face off against Italy — the team to win gold for the last five seasons and perennial favorite to claim the 2018 title. After defeating Spain to qualify for the quarterfinals, Team USA would dominate Canada with a resounding 45-19 victory. Team USA would stifle Korea in a 45-22 victory that would propel them to a rematch of the 2017 final against Italy. Spurred on by a dominate performance by Prescod over Camilla Mancini in the fourth bout, Team USA would close out the final match 45-35 and claim the Gold Medal.
"There are no words to express how proud we all of Nzingha as she continues to add to her already illustrious career," said Peter Westbrook. "Congratulations to her and the rest of the United States team on such a wonderful achievement as we prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games."
Curtis McDowald also put on an incredible display in his first outing with the World Championships stage with an 8th place finish in the Men's Epee. After a breakout season that saw him claim position as the Number 1 epee fencer in the nation, Curtis made his mark on the world as he cut his way through the preliminary rounds. In the round of 64, he faced off with 2017 Bronze medalist, Richard Schmidt (GER). After a 15-8 upset victory, McDowald would go on the slice his way through the field, most notably another upset against Korean star Youngjun Kweon (KOR) 15-6 to qualify for the quarterfinals. McDowald would just miss his first podium finish after falling to World Number 1, Bogdan Nikishin 15-10.
Olympic Silver Medalist, Daryl Homer finished his season with a strong performance in the individual Men's Sabre. Homer would open the tournament with victories against, Kostiantyn Voronov (ISR) and Csanad Gemesi (HUN). In the round of 16 he would face off against Faris Ferjani (TUN) and in a hard fought match, just fall short of making the quarterfinal round 15-13.
"I am immensely proud of the group that we sent to this World Championships," said founder, Peter Westbrook. "Nzingha, Daryl and Curtis fought diligently for the entire year to get to this point. Their victories are awe inspiring and motivate the next generation to follow in their footsteps."
Contact:
Benjamin Bratton
917-673-7648
SOURCE Peter Westbrook Foundation
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