OTTAWA, May 3rd, 2000. The Canadian Fencing Federation is pleased to announce that the following four athletes have qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The Fédération internationale d´escrime has released today the official list of selected athletes for the games. These four Athletes have also had to successfully satisfy the Canadian Olympic Association criteria, proving that they can compete at the top-16 level in the world.

We are pleased and very proud to announce that Sherraine Schalm, Julie Mahoney, Jujie Luan and Laurie Shong are Canada's official fencing representatives at this year's summer Olympic Games. This year's team will also be accompanied by Maître Manuel Guittet as Coach and Team Leader.

Sherraine Schalm, from Brooks, Alberta, is currently 17th in the World rankings in her discipline, Women's Épée, and 2nd in the American Zone. Sherraine currently holds Canada's best Senior World Championship result with a sixth at the 1999 World Championship in Seoul, South Korea.

Julie Mahoney, from Montréal, Québec, is currently 36th in the world ranking in Women's Foil, and 4th in the American Zone. Julie won the bronze medal at the 1999 Pan-American Games in Winnipeg.

Jujie Luan, from Edmonton, Alberta, is currently 45th in the world ranking in Women's Foil, and 5th in the American Zone. Jujie is a veteran World-Class fencer who formerly fenced for China, and was 1984 Olympic Champion in Los Angeles.

Laurie Shong, from Vancouver, British Columbia, is currently 31st in the world ranking in Men's Epee, and 3rd in the American Zone. Laurie was our fourth athlete and only male to complete the COA and FIE criteria. Laurie was the 1988 Cadet World Champion, and represented Canada in both fencing and modern pentathlon at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Laurie is also a bronze medal winner from the 1999 Pan-American Games in Winnipeg.

The team will now be spending the next few months before the games competing and training in preparation for Sydney.

For further information contact:

Keith Boustead, High Performance Program Administrator
Canadian Fencing Federation
1600 James Naismith Drive, Suite 514
Gloucester, Ontario K1B 5N4

(613) 748-5633 (phone); (613) 748-5742 (fax)

E-Mail: cff@fencing.ca  
For Keith direct: keithb@fencing.ca