Hartland fencer takes aim at Olympic gold: 'It means everything'

HARTLAND, Wis. - In Paris, the Olympics will take center stage this summer. In Hartland, a fencer is taking aim at gold for her second home.

Margherita Guzzi Vincenti is an épée fencer. She can target her opponent's entire body, and individually, she has consistently ranked in or near the Top 35 in the world.

"I'm a very mature fencer," she said. "I have a style that is a European style but also an American style."

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Over the past decade, Guzzi Vincenti has honed her craft at Ataba Fencing Club in Hartland with the help of three-time Olympic fencing coach Abbas Fadel.

"It's incredible. It's another daughter. She's grown up in our club here, and every day she's improved," Fadel said.

Guzzi Vincenti – born in Milan, Italy – was meant to become a fencer. The sport was a family tradition, so she started when she was 7 ½ years old.

"I loved it right away," she said. "I thought it was a very interesting sport because it's an individual sport. I just love the competitiveness of the sport."

While she competed for the Italian National Team, Penn State recruited Guzzi Vincenti. From there, she got her green card and moved to Hartland, so she could train with Fadel.

"Abbas is a really special person because he's a coach that can really understand what you need as an athlete and as a person," she said. "He's a mentor on and off the strip."

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Fadel started Ataba Fencing Club. The name, Ataba, means "first step" in Arabic – a bit apropos for Guzzi Vincenti's journey.

"There's always a first step for everything. There was a first step for me to start fencing. There was a first step for me to start traveling internationally with the national team. There was a first step for me also moving to the United States," she said. "There's always first steps in life, and you just gotta keep going."

Guzzi Vincenti's next step is a big one. This summer, she will head to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a member of Team USA Fencing's women's épée team. 

"It means everything, so to achieve what I have today and looking back at Margherita who came to the United States 12 years ago, I just can only be thankful to what my parents have done," said Guzzi Vincenti. "They've always given me love and trust needed to go and excel."

Guzzi Vincenti will represent her second home – the U.S. and the state of Wisconsin – on a global stage this July.

"It means that all the hard work has paid off. It means that every single step I've taken and all the sacrifices have paid off, and so it's a big, big honor to carry that name and carry that title for my family, but also for our country, too," she said.

"This is a dream. It's not really easy to achieve," said Fadel. "She's worked hard, and I'm glad to see it paid off."

Looking back, winning gold at the World Cup in Legnano, Italy last November propelled Guzzi Vincenti's path to the Olympics.

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"It was very special because the place was only 20 minutes from Milan, the city where I grew up, so having my parents there, having a lot of family, friends there was amazing," she said.

And looking ahead, Guzzi Vincenti's countless hours of training are preparing her for the women's épée individual in Paris.

"I think we're going for the gold. We're going for it. There's no retreat," said Fadel.

"I'm usually pretty calm when I step on any strip during tournaments," Guzzi Vincenti said. "It's the calm before the storm, so then the storm comes, and I'm the storm on the strip, usually."

Having that mentality is the first step to, hopefully, achieving gold.

"Just being able not to be overwhelmed by the feeling that, 'Hey, it's the Olympics, it's such a big stage,'" said Guzzi Vincenti. "No, it's just another competition, and you can do it."

Guzzi Vincenti will remain busy until the Summer Olympics begin. She has two other international tournaments to compete in before then. Away from the fencing strip, she's also an avid scuba diver and became a divemaster – plus, she's pursuing a medical career in research and hopes to become a cardiologist in the future.

You can continue to follow Guzzi Vincenti's journey to Paris on her Instagram page.