'You have to feel comfortable being uncomfortable': Kitchener, Ont. fencer reflects on unique road to Paris Olympics

Kitchener, Ont. fencer Sabrina Fang has officially touched down in Paris for her very first Olympic Games.

The 19-year-old qualified as an alternate for Canada’s women’s foil team, after winning a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Games.

“This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Fang told CTV News. “You never know when you’re going to qualify for the Olympics again.”

Fang’s road to the Olympics is best described as unique. Born in Kitchener, she and her family then moved to China where she attended elementary school, before moving to Coquitlam, British Columbia, where she picked up the sport.

“I just thought it was really cool. It’s like sword fighting, so I was really interested when I was younger,” Fang explained. “It was about physical strength but also about strategy.”

She moved again, this time to the United States, where she attended high school and later enrolled at Princeton University.

At its highest level, fencing demands absolute precision.

Fang said entering competition can be a “scary feeling but also really exciting.” Her biggest strength, she feels, is being able to adapt to whoever she’s going up against.

“Everybody thinks differently, everybody has a certain set of skills,” she explained. “I don’t thing about specific actions, but more controlling the distance between me and my opponent.”

Jeremiah Barnert trains with Fang regularly as an integrated support team lead for Canada’s women’s foil team. He said moving across the world at an early age helped develop her ability to adjust to new situations, especially during competition. 

“You have to feel comfortable being uncomfortable,” Barnert told CTV News. “When you go from Canada to China, to the U.S., and also when [she’s] travelling all around the world, it gives you perspective and the ability to mature differently than other people.”

Fang called her well-travelled childhood a time to learn how to “work with what you’ve been given.”

Serving as an alternate means Fang will need to be ready to perform whenever she’s called on.

A role she’s taking in stride.

“I think it will be really, really cool experience,” Fang said.

Despite Canada never earning an Olympic fencing medal, the women’s foil team is coming off a quarter-final appearance at Tokyo 2020.

Barnet believes the young crop of Canadians competing alongside Fang on this year’s team are setting a good foundation for the future.

“Tokyo really set up these Olympics,” he said. “If things continue to trend there could be success here, but there could also be success moving into [the 2028 Olympics], which is really exciting.”