06:16 AM PDT on Wednesday, August 18, 2004

By kgw.com, NBC and AP Staff

ATHENS, Greece -- For the first time in a century, the United States won a gold medal in Olympic fencing, and an Oregonian who nearly didn't go to the Olympics gets the credit.

Mariel Zagunis of Bevaerton shows off her gold medal.

19-year old Mariel Zagunis of Beaverton beat former world champion Tan Xue of China 15-9 in the saber final. Fellow American Sada Jacobson took the bronze, beating Catalina Gheorghitoaia of Romania 15-7.

"I don't even know what to say right now," Zagunis said. "I'm so happy."

After she won the last point, Zagunis ripped off her mask, raised her arms and was mobbed by members of the U.S. team who rushed onto the strip and tossed her into the air.

"There's no better feeling than being thrown up there after becoming champion of anything," she said. "I'm glad they could get on stage and celebrate with me like that."

The United States had never won a medal in women's fencing. The last American medal in the sport was in Los Angeles in 1984, when Peter Westbrook won the bronze in men's saber.

Zagunis controlled the final, charging in on the opening point to score the first touch. She clinched the gold medal bout with a decisive three-step fleche that ended with her blade touching Tan's left shoulder. Moments earlier, she had switched sabres after a close call went in Tan's favor.

AP Photo 19-year old Mariel Zagunis of Beaverton, Ore. waves the American flag in Athens as she celebrates her gold medal fencing win.

Seizing early momentum, Zagunis led 8-2 at the end of the first period, reaching her seventh point by feverishly backing Tan to within a foot of the piste's boundary before scoring the touch.

"She practically showed everything we coaches wish to see in a bout," her coach, Ed Korfanty said.

Throughout the bout, Korfanty said Zagunis took the initiative, scoring repeatedly on direct attacks. She also had enough versatility to defend herself on Tan's charges, and score on the counter-attack.

Zagunis, who is ranked fourth in the world, had more trouble with No. 31 Madoka Hisagae of Japan in her opening bout than she did with Tan, who is No. 5.

Although Zagunis never trailed after the break, Hisagae tied the score five times in the second half before Zagunis won 15-13.

"She was tense only in her first bout," Korfanty said.

After that, Zagunis settled down, winning her next bout 15-11 and then defeating Romania's Catalina Gheorghitoaia 15-10 in the semifinal.

After receiving some tips from Zagunis on how to attack Gheorghitoaia, Jacobson defeated the Romanian 15-7 to win the bronze.

"She gave me some advice on her strengths and weaknesses," Jacobson said.

NBC Olympics photo A victorious Zagunis holds up her sword and the U.S. flag after winning the gold medal round.

Zagunis will go down as the first gold medalist in the history of Olympic women's individual sabre, which made its debut in these Games.

Women's saber is the newest of fencing's six disciplines. The first world championship in women's saber was held in 1999.

Saber is the fastest of fencing's three weapons. The target area is the entire body above the bend in the hips, including the head. Unlike in foil and epee, saber fencers can score with the tip or the edge of the blade.

With so many highly skilled fencers competing, factors beyond skill and preparation came into play.

"At this stage of the game, it's completely mental," Zagunis said, as she headed into the final competition.

Zagunis nearly didn't make it to that stage, just missing out on qualifying for the Olympics in April. She didn't earn a spot on the U.S. team until June, when the Nigerian Olympic Committee declined to have its fencer participate in the competition.

That opened up a spot in the field, which Zagunis filled as the highest-ranked fencer in the world who had not already qualified.

"I'm just happy in the first place that I was able to come here and compete," Zagunis said.

Olympic competition runs in her family. Zagunis' parents were both Olympians, on the U.S. rowing team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

And while Zagunis navigated some rough seas to reach the Athens Games, in the end the waters of the Aegean were good to her.