Veena Gunput

Less than a year ago, my son Satya was a member of the Under 20 GBR fencing squad when he expressed the desire to represent Mauritius (the country of my origin). Mauritius had no national fencing organisation, no national fencing team, there wasn't a single fencing club in the entire country. I sent countless emails and made numerous telephone calls to various government departments in Mauritius, the Federation Internationale d'Escrime in Switzerland (FIE) and the African Fencing Confederation. As a result, Mauritius is on the verge of having an FIE affiliated federation and fencing will start in Mauritius . At the beginning of October, for the 1st time ever there was a Mauritian (Satya) competing at the World Fencing Championships in Sicily. It is my hope that Satya's success will inspire young Mauritians to take up this Olympic sport and that in a few years' time fencing will become an established part of sport in Mauritius.