THE SHORTENED OLYMPIC CYCLE

RULES & REFEREES BY JEFF BUKANTZ

Having been involved in fencing for a half century as a competitor, referee, team captain, administrator and commentator, I have seen many changes in our sport.

We have seen changes to rules, changes to interpretations of actions, changes to the equipment, changes to the qualifying criteria, changes to the tournament format and even change to which side of the lights count for each fencer. (Most of those reading this column would be stunned to know the lights used to be reversed, and when the fencer on the left scored, it was the light on the right that went off!)

The conventional wisdom is that nobody likes change. And there is usually a kneejerk reaction of pushback when there is change.

There is a comfort zone with normalcy, structure and lack of change.

THE ONE PLACE WHERE THERE NEVER HAS BEEN CHANGE WAS WITH THE “OLYMPIC CYCLE.”

The Olympic Cycle of four years, also known as a “quadrennium,” was the constant on which fencers could count. Fencers and coaches would base their long-term training on the cycle. Fencers would determine whether to matriculate at college based on the cycle. Some would delay their professional career based on it. Coaches also made career choices based on the four years. Organizational elections were based on the quadrennium.

Just as the Earth revolves around the sun, we revolved around the cycle.

And then, COVID-19 struck.

Certainty and structure were replaced by complete uncertainty and a lack of structure. Clubs closed down. Competitions were canceled. And, even when the COVID restrictions were lifted, World Cups were canceled with very late notice.

Of course, the unthinkable happened when the Tokyo Olympics were postponed for a year. Hence, the neat-and-tidy, four-year cycle that everyone trained and planned for caused fencers to put their lives on hold if they wanted to compete in Tokyo.

The additional fallout from that five-year cycle would be that the Paris cycle would be only three years. How would this truncated cycle affect the fencers? I reached out to Olympians Kat Holmes and Daryl Homer, as well as Olympic coaches Greg Massialas and Yury Gelman, to hear their thoughts.

Greg said, “It will make a difference. The five-year cycle was hard. When Tokyo was finally over, everyone needed a break. It was a very intense time.

“Not everybody was right back on track. It gave an opportunity for some younger guns to emerge, such as Chase Emmer.

“Last season only had five World Cups. That short season, with few events, was rough. Emotionally we were behind at the start of the season. You can understand that, as we basically had two stressful years leading up to Tokyo.

“By the time the last Grand Prix and the World Championships came around, we were in a better state.

“As there still is a degree of uncertainty about the World Cups being canceled, the fencers must now attend NACs and get their points for that qualifying bucket.”

Here was Yury’s take:

“I don’t think the three-year cycle will make a big difference. Because of COVID, we had to make adjustments, but we always make adjustments.

“There were definitely fewer competitions and fewer competitive bouts in the first year of the cycle. Fencers didn’t gain the experience they usually did.

“It is the same for everyone and, in my opinion, not a big deal.

“There is actually a positive to the short cycle, as some athletes may have decided not to retire because of the shortened cycle for Paris.”

2015 World and 2016 Olympic silver-medalist Daryl basically agreed with Yury.

“I don’t see the shortened cycle as being an issue. I actually like it as the turnaround for Paris is shorter.

“And, for me, I see less physical and mental stress due to the shorter cycle.”

2018 World Team champion Kat said, “I have a more personal take. I started medical school three days after Tokyo.

“The first two years are didactic work and the last two years are my rotation. Now, I’m able to take a year off and do research before my final two years.”

I asked Kat if Tokyo had not been postponed for a year if she might have just gone to medical school and not trained for Paris and she replied, “That is a possibility, but the postponement followed by the three-year cycle worked out for me. “There was no break after Tokyo, which increased the physical load and the emotional stress load. There wasn’t adequate time to recover.

“As the situation is unknown regarding the World Cup schedule, we now must attend NACs, which are early in the season.”

So, while there are some common themes espoused by these four, the bottom line is that the pandemic has caused everyone to adjust in many aspects of their lives.

We dealt with working and learning virtually, social distancing, sporting and life events being canceled or postponed, wearing masks and knowing that each day could bring a new surprise or guideline.

Normalcy and structure were thrown out the window, and as a result, people became used to “pivoting.” We became conditioned the lack of normalcy and accepting a “new normal.”

So, this one-time, three-year cycle is just another pivot-point fencers vying for Paris had to face. Whether you like the shorter cycle, like Daryl, or not, these are the cards that have been dealt.

And Yury summed it up perfectly when he said, “We always make adjustments, and it is the same for everyone.”