U.S. fencing team upset after Games drop events

Women's team foil and saber were dropped from the program.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- The U.S. fencing team learned Saturday its medal hopes in two women's team events at the Pan American Games had been slashed.
In a meeting days before the start of the games, the Pan American Sports Organization told delegates every scheduled event would be held. But, on the opening day Saturday, some athletes found out they won't be competing here after all -- though they will still be considered part of the team.
Women's team foil and saber were dropped to be in accordance with the program for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Neither event appears on the posted Pan Am Games schedule.
"It was not communicated to the U.S. delegation or somehow it got lost," said Suzie Paxton, a spokeswoman for United States Fencing Association. "We're not sure where the communication breakdown was."
Seeking an explanation
On Saturday, the United States contacted the PASO technical committee, which establishes and approves the sports program, to request an explanation and clarification of the decision.
"The Americans are saying they were not informed," said Hanibal Illueco, president of the Pan American Fencing Federation. "Everybody else was. This seems to be a communications problem within the United States."
FIE, the international governing body of the sport, randomly decided on two disciplines that will not be contested in Athens: women's team foil and saber. In May, PASO indicated it would follow the Olympic format, but participating countries insisted the events be kept, and the organization agreed. The same exact thing happened again two weeks ago.
At a meeting this week, the countries again asked if all events would be contested. PASO said they would, according to Darryl Seibel, spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee.
"If these events aren't held, we'd be extremely disappointed for our athletes," Seibel said. "They have trained and prepared to compete in the team events, so we know there'd be a sense of letdown if the events aren't held."
Paxton said many nations didn't bring their full teams because they had already been notified.
"We knew last week that the team events were in jeopardy," Paxton said. "We didn't want to risk not having them here in case they did compete. We figured everybody was bringing their third athlete, but the other countries knew ahead of time."
High expectations
The United States has high expectations in fencing, and hopes to bring home many medals.
The decision will impact talented sisters Sada and Emily Jacobson of Atlanta, who are ranked No. 1 and No. 6 in the world in saber. They were set to compete in women's team saber, but had already advanced to the semifinals in the individual competition.
Women's individual saber will make its Olympic debut in Greece.