Go Peru! María Luisa Doig won a silver medal in fencing at Santiago 2023.

Doig secured her spot in the final, first eliminating Paraguayan Gabriela Viveros in the quarterfinals, obtaining a score of 15 to 10. Then, she faced Canadian Ruien Xiao in the semifinals, one of the youngest athletes in this discipline at 16 years old, repeating the score of 15 to 10, thus achieving the fight for the Pan American gold.

However, in this final, she had to measure forces against Argentine Isabel Di Tella, who in the 2019 edition of the Pan American Games won the bronze medal, so she was going to seek revenge. With more experience, the 30-year-old athlete attacked the Peruvian in the precise moments, prevailing in the first and third sets.

The first set ended 3-1 in favor of the Argentine, while the second ended 3-3. The third set was the most exciting, even though the overall score favored Di Tella. Doig managed to equalize 9-9, with just over a minute left. However, the pressure of the final seconds led the Argentine to score six more touches, winning 15-9.

While the gold went to the Argentine country, it is still an extremely important achievement, not only for María Luisa, but also for national fencing, as it is the first Pan American medal achieved in this discipline. In addition, with this silver medal, three more are added to the medal standings.

So far, Team Peru has won seven gold medals (won by Christian Pacheco, Hugo Ruiz Calle, Kimberly García, ‘Piccolo’ Clemente, María Fernanda Reyes, Lucca Mesinas, and Luz Mery Rojas), three silver medals (including María Luisa Doig), and thirteen bronze medals. We still have to wait for the participation of Diego Elías, who is competing in the Squash final against Colombian Miguel Ángel Rodríguez.

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