Mormon Olympian Maria Gabriela Martinez Gascon
Born January 3, 1983, Maria Gabriela Martinez Gascon is no stranger to competing in the world of fencing. This 5’7” and 130 lb Venezuelan competes in women’s epee (pronounced “EPP-pay” – literally meaning “sword” in French).
Among her accomplishments are placing 42 in the 2000/2001 NAC Division I/Veteran Women’s epee, and placing 5th at the Junior “A” World Cup, Havana, Cuba in 2001.
Women’s epee was first introduced into the Olympics in 1996. Maria Gabriela Martinez Gascon would represent her country of Venezuela in the summer 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Unfortunately, Maria would not make it very far in the fencing competitions. She lost her match against Sophie Lamon of Switzerland in the round of 32 eliminations. Her final time score was 9.
When the competition ended, Maria Martinez Gascon would rank 21st out of 25 athletes competing in the women’s epee Olympic event in 2008.
Sources:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=58939/bio/index.html?_source=IA&cid=IA_isp1_ath