So my work as a fencing flash quote reporter has ended.  It really just hit me today that all the preparation, hard work, and interviews all came to an end in a flash (no pun intended).  In a week and a half I will return to Ithaca College to begin another year so before I hop on a plane for a 13 hour flight I want to briefly reflect on my past few weeks and my current view on the sport of fencing. 

    Since starting as a flash quoter I have developed an immense amount of respect for the sport of fencing.  Coming into it I thought it was just going to be a bunch of country club guys hitting each other with swords.  It didn’t sound too exciting but I must say that I was entirely wrong in that assumption. These fencers are not only outstanding athletes, but their personalities range from down to earth and polite to over confident and sometimes belligerent.  I can let the holes in the walls all over the mixed zone speak for the latter.

    The fans are what they would be in any sport.  They get dressed up in their countries colors, wave flags, and sing songs and chants during the matches.  It really does get very exciting and extremely loud in the Fencing Hall, especially when Chinese fencers are out on the piste.  As a flash quote reporter I must remain impartial to any one countries’ fencers so my questions for each fencer can be fair and unbiased.  This standard of professionalism had me resisting the urge to chant “U-S-A” with the US fans in each bout, even though I would have loved to support my countries fencers who impressively won 6 medals and were tied with the powerhouse Italians on the fencing medal count.

      Being a flash quoter has also given me an understanding of journalism even though we weren’t the ones writing articles.  After talking to many of the journalist in the mixed zone, and seeing how my quotes were used in articles and daily event reviews, I now better understand the process.  After all, getting the quotes to use in your article is half the battle.

      Now that fencing has ended I have a little bit of time to myself.  I can sleep more than 5 hours a night and say goodbye to those long 17 hour days.  It is kind of bittersweet and I am really glad I was able to have such a great experience. Maybe I will be working for LOCOG (London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games) in 2012, who knows?