Mariel Zagunis: Olympic fencer moves into semis at London Games

Mariel Zagunis of USA competes against Seira Nakayama of Japan in the Women's Sabre Individual round 16 match on Day 5 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at ExCeL on August 1, 2012 in London, England.
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Posted: 08/01/2012

By: Associated Press

LONDON - Two-time Olympic sabre champion Mariel Zagunis, who carried the American flag at the opening ceremony, has moved into the semifinals at the London Games.

The top-seeded Zagunis defeated No. 32 Diah Permatasari of Indonesia 15-7 on Wednesday in her opening bout, topped Japan's Seira Nakayama 15-9 in the next round, then overwhelmed China's Zhu Min 15-6 in the quarterfinals to reach Wednesday night's medal round.

Dagmara Wozniak of the U.S. was ousted in the quarterfinals, falling to second-seeded Russian Sofya Velikaya 15-13.

Zagunis was a late addition to the U.S. roster for the 2004 Athens Olympics, and went on to win her country's first fencing gold medal in 100 years. Zagunis defended her title at Beijing in 2008.