U.S. Fencers Set to Make Paralympic Debut in Tokyo

Atrio of first-time Paralympians are ready to take on the world at the Paralympic Games August 25-29 in Tokyo, Japan.

The most athletes competing for Team USA in wheelchair fencing since 2012, Ellen Geddes (Johnson, S.C. / Shepherd Swords), Terry Hayes (North Fort Meyers, Fla. / Southwest Florida Fencing Academy) and Shelby Jensen (Salt Lake City, Utah / Valkyrie Fencing Club) are three of 96 fencers from around the globe who will compete on the world’s biggest stage.

Each will represent the United States individually as well as in the team foil and epee events, in which Team USA ranks No. 8 and No. 12, respectively. The 2020 Games mark the first time the United States will compete in a team event since 2004 when it took seventh in both women’s epee and foil.

Ellen Geddes narrowly missed out on the 2016 Paralympic Games, but has been Team USA’s top competitor ever since.

Qualified in Category B epee and foil, the four-time World Championship Team member currently ranks No. 12 in foil and No. 13 in epee in the Paralympic Qualification Rankings.

During the qualification period, Geddes earned a top-eight finish in both weapons at the 2018 Kyoto World Cup as well as in epee at the 2019 IWAS World Games. At the 2019 World Championships, Geddes put in another respectable result, taking ninth in both epee and foil. A competitive equestrian growing up, Geddes broke her back in a car accident in 2011 and suffered a complete spinal cord injury at T10. While rehabbing, she discovered wheelchair fencing. Since then, Geddes has medaled internationally, including bronze at the 2014 Montreal Grand Prix and the Pan American Championships in Category A Epee in 2018. She also is a consistent podium finisher on the North American Cup circuit with nine gold medals to her name. In the category A events, Team USA will be represented by Shelby Jensen. Team USA’s youngest fencer, Jensen fences all three weapons, but will be competing in her two favorite in Tokyo: epee and saber. The 2019 World Team member who has right side hemiparesis (or weakness in the right side) after having a stroke at age seven discovered wheelchair fencing in 2016 while volunteering for a wheelchair sports camp. She quickly burst onto the scene nationally, winning seven gold medals in her career, including a sweep of the national championships in her hometown of Salt Lake City in 2019.

Ranked No. 25 in saber and No. 28 in epee in the Paralympic Qualification Rankings, Jensen won silver in saber and secured a top-eight finish in epee at the 2018 Pan American Championships.

In 2019, she won bronze at the U23 Wheelchair World Championships. She also has top-16 finishes in both epee and saber on the World Cup circuit.

Also competing in epee and saber, but in Category B, Terry Hayes will be the oldest fencer in the field and will be 63 when she takes the strip in Tokyo.

Hayes – who found parafencing after being diagnosed with Primary Cerebellar Degeneration, a progressive brain disease, and has Systemic Lupus – played varsity lacrosse while studying at Old Dominion University, served as a heavy equipment operator in the Army and was an early childhood special education teacher.

No. 22 in saber and No. 31 in epee, Hayes claimed a top-16 result at the 2018 Pan American Championships in saber. The 2019 October NAC bronze medalist in epee has consistently earned top-32 results internationally, including at her first Worlds in 2019 in epee and saber.

Paralympic qualifiers Shelby Jensen, Terry Hayes and Ellen Geddes.