Sport / Gold for Gifford as she celebrates national fencing success
A FENCER from Vidlin is celebrating after being crowned the best in Scotland at the weekend.
Mhairi Gifford achieved her best ever performance by lifting the women’s epee gold at the Scottish Senior Open – the biggest competition in the country – in Stirling.
And it comes less than a month after Gifford crossed another long-term goal off of her wishlist by representing, and captaining, Scotland at a five nations competition.
The 28-year-old beat the sixth-ranked fencer in the UK to seal Scottish Open success, and said she was still coming to terms with her victory.
“I went with a goal just to get a medal,” she told Shetland News.
“I thought ‘bronze would be good to get and come away with’.
“I never thought for a second I would be winning it. Gold is just amazing.”
Gifford’s success came after she made an “okay” start to the competition in the poule stage, where she faced five fencers in two separate groups.
She emerged from both poules with four wins and a 5-4 defeat in each, giving her a strong seeding for the knock-out rounds.
There fencers face each other in a first to 15 race, with defeat meaning you are out of the competition.
“I just kept winning at that point,” Gifford said.
“I was feeling good, and I won to get in to the last four by beating someone 15-3 that I had lost to in the poule stage.
“Then I won 15-11, and I was just so pleased to get in to the final.”
Having surpassed her hopes of winning a bronze medal, Gifford said she realised she had “nothing to lose” heading into the gold medal decider.
“I was actually really relaxed, and was just like ‘even if I lose I’ll get a silver medal’,” she added.
In the final Gifford came face-to-face with the UK’s sixth ranked fencer – who beat her at the Scottish Open last year 15-14, in a final point decider.
In this weekend’s final the pair incredibly found themselves locked together at 14-14 again.
But this time it was Gifford who won it to tip the scales in her favour, and giving her a momentous piece of national silverware.
“This was a little bit of revenge,” Gifford said.
“The final was really close in the beginning, there was never more than a point or two in it. I was worried she was going to run away with it at the start but it never happened.
“When it got to 14-all I was thinking, ‘oh no, not again’…
“I tried to think about what I was going to do before that last point.
“There was a couple of times where I was probably not aggressive enough, so I decided I was going to take it to her right now.
“When I won that final point, it took a while for it to actually sink in.”
Gifford was well prepared for the Scottish Open, having only weeks earlier represented the Scottish senior team for the first time in Northern Ireland.
She said she “didn’t really know what to expect” before her first taste of national action – and was stunned when she arrived at Derry’s Foyle Arena to be asked to captain Scotland’s women’s foil team.
“I wasn’t expecting that, so that was just another layer on top of it,” Gifford said.
Her highlight of the competition was coming on to represent the team while trailing 40-34 to hosts Northern Ireland in a race to 45 points, and helping them produce a stunning comeback to win 45-43.
She also got to test herself against the English fencing team, possessing some of the best fencers in the UK, beating one and drawing with another.
The last month of competitive action, which has also seen her compete in the Welsh Open in Cardiff, has given her a desire to keep testing herself at the top level.
“I’m definitely thinking more about rankings and competitions over the last couple of years,” she said.
“Getting my ranking up, being selected for Scotland and getting to these big events is something I’m now thinking about.”
Gifford will compete for the first time at the British Open next year, as well as pushing for five nations selection again in November 2025.
She has achieved all she has this year while working full-time in Shetland, and says it is “much easier” for her opponents to get to competitions.
“I have to pick and choose what ones I go to,” she said.
“They can go to a competition somewhere at the weekend and be back at their work on Monday.
“I’m having to travel through Friday and sometimes through Monday too.”
She paid tribute to Brae High School and Sound Primary, where she works, for allowing her the time off.
“They could easily have said ‘no.’ But they have been really good at giving me time off to go to these competitions.”
Gifford also thanked fencing coach Phil Hibbert for providing extra sessions for her, in his spare time, before she goes away.
And she said she hoped her Scottish Open success could encourage fencers all over the isles.
“I hope this shows that if you want to do it, then you can,” she added.
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