Natalia Sheppard through to Olympic Games

Monday, April 23, 2012
9:24 AM

NATALIA SHEPPARD will make her debut appearance at this summer’s Olympics after the 27-year-old became the second British fencer to qualify for London.

Ranked 55th in the world, Sheppard secured her place in London by reaching the final of the women’s foil at the European Qualifying tournament in Bratislava over the weekend.

Richard Kruse, was the first fencer to qualify and will be competing in his third Olympics.

Sheppard cruised past Slovakian Michala Cellerova 15-4 in the quarter-finals and then beat Romanian Cristina Ghita 10-6 in the semi-final.

Corinna Lawrence (epee), Joanna Hutchison and James Honeybone (sabre) and Jonathan Willis (epee) all face an anxious wait for spots which will be decided by the governing body.