U.S. women's sabre fencers lose Olympic bouts overshadowed by a match-fixing investigation

South Korea's Choi Sebin, left, and United States' Tatiana Nazlymov compete at the Grand Palais in Paris on July 29, 2024. (Andrew Medichini / AP Photo)

PARIS — All three U.S. women's sabre fencers lost their opening bouts at the Paris Olympics on Monday under the cloud of an investigation that examined possible match-fixing in qualifying for the Games.

Tatiana Nazlymov was competing a month after she testified in a 13-hour arbitration hearing in which two other American fencers, including the team's Olympic alternate Maia Chamberlain, challenged her place on the Paris roster.

Nazlymov, as well as her teammates Magda Skarbonkiewicz and Elizabeth Tartakovsky, all lost their round-of-32 bouts in the individual sabre. They compete again in the team event Saturday.

USA Fencing CEO Phil Andrews had cited “emotional strain” as a concern before the competition, but it wasn't immediately clear if the investigation had any impact on the three U.S. fencers' performances Monday.

Nazlymov, who lost 15-14 to South Korean Choi Sebin, declined to comment to The Associated Press on her bout as she left the venue.

Two complaints were filed in an arbitration procedure known as Section 9 ahead of the Olympics by fencers disputing whether Nazlymov and men's sabre fencer Mitchell Saron should have been included on the U.S. team for Paris.

Documents show the complaints, first reported by USA Today, were both dismissed in lengthy hearings last month. Nazlymov and Saron are on the team in Paris. There is no suggestion that Nazlymov or Saron, who lost in the men's sabre round of 16 on Saturday, committed any misconduct.

“We respect the right of those Fencers who went through the Section 9 process and are mindful of the emotional strain the process puts on all parties,” USA Fencing CEO Phil Andrews told the AP in a text message Sunday. “While the investigation continues and we anticipate a report after the conclusion of the Olympic Games; both independent panels rendered their decisions and we are now focused on a healthy environment here in Paris.”

Nazlymov’s qualification for the Olympics came amid an ongoing investigation into sabre bouts by USA Fencing. In April, it suspended referees Jacobo Morales and Brandon Romo from tournaments for allegedly conferring during a match that Nazlymov won at a January qualifying event for the Olympics in San Jose, Calif.

An open letter signed by unnamed “select members” of the U.S. team and issued via advocacy group Global Athlete branded the suspensions of Romo and Morales “weak and futile” and criticized USA Fencing for not redistributing the Olympic qualification points that had been at stake in the bout.

USA Fencing said at the time it found “no evidence” that its fencers manipulated any bouts and none were facing disciplinary action. The arbitration ruling in Nazlymov's case in June backed up that statement.

“No evidence was offered to show that Ms. Nazlymov was in any way personally involved in any kind of bout manipulation or attempted to gain an advantage through referee misconduct,” the ruling states.

The investigation has cast a shadow over an otherwise successful Olympics so far for U.S. fencers. Lee Kiefer won gold and Lauren Scruggs silver in women's foil Sunday. Their event is not part of the investigation into possible match-fixing.