If you’re looking to catch some Olympic fever Sunday, head downtown to the Team Canada Fanfest to cheer on Eleanor Harvey.
The Calgary resident, a past CTV Athlete of the Week, is competing for Canada’s first fencing medal after coming from behind to beat Italian Martina Favaretto 15-14 in the quarterfinals earlier Sunday.
Harvey staged a fierce comeback after trailing 10-4 midway through the second frame early Sunday morning, but her luck ran out a couple hours later, in the semi-finals against American Lauren Scruggs, who beat her 15-9 in the women’s semi-final.
Scruggs controlled the match early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before Harvey cut the deficit to 5-3 before the end of the first round.
Harvey continued her climb in the second, using her speed and agility to knot the score at 5-5 before Scruggs pulled ahead once again and scored seven straight points before she was finally able to retaliate.
Scruggs took a 13-7 advantage into the final round and finished Harvey off by lunging in for a high touch.
Harvey will take on Italy’s Alice Volpi at 12:50 p.m. MST for the bronze.
Either way, by landing in the top four, Harvey has posted the best-ever Olympic result for a Canadian in any individual fencing event, a Team Canada X posting stated Sunday.
The 29-year-old, originally from Hamilton, was a silver medallist in both the individual and team foil events in last year’s Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile.
Eleanor Harvey is a fencer on the rise and she’s our Athlete of the Week. Glenn Campbell reports
Team Canada Fan Fest is located on Stephen Avenue between 1 Street S.E. and 1 Street S.W.
The city is reminding motorists that Eighth Avenue in that area is closed to all vehicle traffic, along with Centre Street, which is closed between Seventh and Ninth Avenue.
With files from the Canadian Press