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Marcus Mepstead

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Marcus Mepstead
Mepstead in 2015
Personal information
Born (1990-05-11) 11 May 1990 (age 34)
London, United Kingdom
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
CountryGreat Britain
WeaponFoil
Handright-handed
ClubBBFC
Head coachDan Kellner
FIE rankingcurrent ranking
Medal record
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2019 Budapest Individual
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Leipzig Team
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Zagreb Team
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Toruń Team
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Baku Team
British Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 London Individual

Marcus Mepstead OLY (/ˈmɛpˌstɛd/ MEP-sted;[1] born 11 May 1990) is a British Olympic foil fencer, who competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. A team bronze medallist at the 2010[2] and 2013 European Championships,[3] and team gold medallist at the 2015 European Games.[4] In 2016, he won the foil title at the British Fencing Championships.[5][6] and 2019 Vice-World Champion.[7]

Career

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Mepstead started fencing after seeing it on his way home after school.[8] He was a member of the team that earned a bronze medal at the 2010 European Championships in Leipzig, Great Britain's first medal at the major fencing event since 1965,[2] becoming the youngest British athlete to medal at a European Fencing Championships. He took part in the 2011 Summer Universiade.[9] Great Britain earned another European bronze medal two years later in Zagreb.[10]

In 2014 he was drafted into the British World Class Programme ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[11] In the 2014–15 season he took part in the first edition of the European Games held in Baku. Great Britain defeated France, then managed a surprise win against favourites Italy to earn the gold medal.[12] In April 2016 he was named in the four man team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro coming on to fight against Russia, Egypt and China as Great Britain finished 6th in the Team Event.[13] In July 2019 he earned the individual silver medal at the 2019 World Championships, beating world number 1 Alessio Foconi in the first round, Son Young Ki 15-12 in the semifinal, before being defeated 15-6 by Enzo Lefort in the final.[14]

Personal life

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In 2014 Marcus Mepstead graduated with a 2.1 BSc Honours degree in Economics and Geography at the London School of Economics. Whilst studying he was part of the University of London Union team that earned promotion to first division. He was awarded full purples for his involvement as well as building a new sports ambassador role within London School of Economics.[15] Currently he trains full-time, working with the British Athletes Commission as well as mentoring and coaching at clubs and schools.

References

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  1. ^ "Marcus Mepstead talks through his hard journey to world silver medallist". Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b "London 2012: Fencing progress report". The Guardian. 26 July 2010.
  3. ^ "British foil fencers win European Championship team bronze". BBC. 21 June 2013.
  4. ^ "European Games: Britain win fencing foil gold". BBC. 27 June 2015.
  5. ^ "British Champions" (PDF). British Fencing. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Marcus Mepstead - British Fencing Bio".
  7. ^ "Mepstead wins world silver".
  8. ^ "Marcus Mepstead". Beazley British Fencing.
  9. ^ Shanna Chu. "Britain's Biggest Ever Delegation Joins Shenzhen Universiade". lifeofguangzhou.com.
  10. ^ "Fencing – Great Britain pick up men's foil team bronze at European Championships". Yahoo! Sport. 21 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014.
  11. ^ Daniel Etchells (29 May 2015). "British Fencing's Elite Training Centre formally opened". insidethegames.biz.
  12. ^ Mark Staniforth (27 June 2015). "Baku Games 2015: Great Britain's fencing team stun reigning champions Italy for gold". London Evening Standard.
  13. ^ "British Fencing Olympic selection meeting". British Fencing. 5 April 2016.
  14. ^ "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  15. ^ "LSE Sports Ambassadors". LSE Students' Union.
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