Olympic Silver medalist and 2 time World Champion in Fencing Claudia Bokel is currently on a visit to Sri Lanka as a part of her International Olympic Committee duties. A program organized by the National Association of Fencing Sri Lanka was held yesterday at the Unichela Fencing Club, Panadura with the participation of a number Sri Lankan national and club Fencers along with members of the administration team.
Bokel who has her roots in the Netherlands and enjoys dual citizenship in Germany, was a crucial member of the German Fencing team from a very early age. She won her first Junior World championship title at the age of 17 and later on in her career went on to win the Senior World Champion title twice in succession.
The Epee weapon being her forte Bokel said “I tried out all weapons so I thought I’d just try Epee as well and ended up selecting it”, “perhaps my height influenced my decision in selecting the weapon and also the sport because I knew I had a longer reach which would give me an advantage” she added commenting on her selection of the sport as well as her weapon.
The Olympic medalist shared her thoughts on being the top ranked Fencer in the world 4 times; twice Junior World Champion, twice Senior World Champion, “when you’re the World Champion everyone wants to beat you, if they do win and you see how happy it makes them feel which shows how important it was for them”.
Claudia currently serves in the International Olympic Committee in the executive committee and in many other commissions yet, carries a very humble and friendly personality. “That’s my lucky towel” she commented with one of her bubbly smiles while sharing a video of her World Championship final bout just showing how modest she is.
With a promise to support Sri Lankan Bokel ended her brief presentation saying “Whatever you do, do it right” giving a valuable piece of advice to the future of this rather young sport.
