A pair of Okotoks area fencers received something more important than the medals they brought home from the Alberta Winter Games.

Chantal Beaulne and Sean Badun display their gold and silver medals respectively they won in epee at the Alberta Winter Games on Feb. 4-7.

Chantal Beaulne won the gold medal in women’s epee at the Games in Bonnyville/Cold Lake, but she also found some untapped confidence. Her teammate Sean Badun took home the silver in men’s epee and a renewed passion for the sport.

Beaulne won the gold medal in epee when she beat Jodi Antonio of Edson. Beaulne finished first in the round robin by winning six of her seven matches.

A point is awarded in epee when a fencer strikes his or her opponent on any part of the body. The first fencer to 15 is the winner, or the person who is leading after three rounds.

She easily won her quarterfinal match, and then beat Surina Elidrissi of Red Deer 15-14 in the semifinal.

“I didn’t ever feel the pressure of losing which was kind of weird,” said Beaulne, a Grade 10 student at Holy Trinity Academy in Okotoks. “Usually, when I go to a tournament I get really nervous, but for some reason I was calm in Cold Lake.

Beaulne turned to the Killers to calm her down for the final.

“I was listening to this song Human by the Killers just before the final,” Beaulne said with a smile. “Somebody had recommended it to me. I know it sounds like a heavy song, but it’s not. It’s soothing.”
Heading into the final Beaulne was not only calm, but also confident.

“We were tied at 7-7 and I was kind of freaking out, I have a bad history with nerves,” Beaulne said. “But then suddenly I went calm. It was kind of like it didn’t matter if I won or lost, but it’s better if I won.”

Badun proved Canadian rock legend Neil Young wrong in winning the silver medal in the men’s epee.

It’s not better to burn out.

Badun, who has competed in national tournaments, took a couple months off from the sport before the Games.

“I wanted a little break because I was starting to hate the sport,” said the Grade 11 student at Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks.

Badun found out that Neil Young was right about one thing — rust never sleeps.

It took Badun a while to find his groove and he finished third in the eight-man round robin.

However, he won the quarterfinal and semifinal match to earn a spot in the final against Lucas Hesse who beat Badun 15-14.

Badun was ahead 14-13 near the end of the match, but he missed his target twice in trying to get that elusive winning point. Hesse was then able to counter and get the final two points.

Badun wasn’t about to blame rust for the loss.

“He is a good fencer and he beat me fair and square,” Badun said.

Badun pointed out the sportsmanship of the sport. Badun initially was not given a point when it was ruled he hit the floor with is sword before striking Hesse.

Hesse told the judges that was not the case and Badun was awarded the point.

Now Badun is ready to get back into fencing.

“I realized at the Games how much I love being in tournaments,” he said.

Both Badun and Beaulne are members of the Okotoks Gladiators Fencing Club.

On the beam

A Red Deer Lake gymnast was right on the mark when flipping on a four-inch wide piece of wood approximately three feet off the ground.

Morgan Kravtsov, a student at Red Deer Lake School, won the gold medal in the Level 3 balance beam at the Alberta Winter Games.

She used the same routine she did at the qualifying tournament, but she didn’t have much choice.

“My routine was the highest you can get at my level,” Kravtsov said. “I had the best score I have ever had. I was really confident (at the Games).”

There were six girls who qualified for the balance beam final and she was the fifth competitor to go up on the beam.

“I kinda watched the other girls,” she said. “When I was done, I thought I had a good chance of winning.”

Kravtsov finished second in the bars and was third in the vault. She just missed winning a medal in the all-around finishing fourth in the overall, which is the combined score of the floor exercise, uneven parallel bars, vault and balance beam.

“I missed third by 0.1 of a point,” Kravtsov said. “That’s like not pointing your toe one time… but I was happy with how I did.”

Karini Richichi, a student at John Paul II Collegiate in Okotoks, won the bronze medal in the all-around at Pro Level 2.

While Richichi didn’t medal in any of the four disciplines, she was the model of consistency in all of them en route to medaling in the all-around.

“I definitely tried really hard,” said Richichi, who finished first in the bars in the qualifying round. “I had a 12.7, and I thought it would be really close to win.”

In the final on bars, her score slipped to 11.00, but still good enough to finish sixth.

Kratvsov and Richichi are both members of the Mountain Shadows Gymnastics Club in Okotoks.

They were part of the Zone 2 team, which won the bronze medal at Level 2.

Other Mountain Shadows athletes who competed at the Games were Nicole Lavoie, Danika Gibbs and Elektra Taylor of Calgary

Lavoie won the gold medal in the Level 4 uneven bars. Taylor and Gibbs were members of the Zone 3 Level 2 team that won the bronze medal.

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