Fencer Rubén Limardo went from anonymity to stardom by winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games, after becoming the king of the men’s individual epee at London 2012.
Limardo, a native of Bolivar who was 26 years old at the time and now has 38 calendars under his belt, joined the recently deceased boxer Francisco “Morochito” Rodríguez (Mexico 1968) and taekwondo fighter Arlindo Gouveia (Barcelona 1992) as the only ones to climb to the top of the podium in the highest universal competitions, something that guaranteed him to be an eternal idol in the land where the Liberator Simón Bolívar was born.
It is worth remembering that at the time of his consecration, Limardo was the second native to officially hold a gold circle, after Rodríguez, since tae kwon do was still considered an exhibition sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which later put an end to these differences and validated all the medals from different disciplines.
The road to glory
Limardo, born on August 3, 1985 in Ciudad Bolívar, began his road to glory with a 15-13 victory over Egyptian Ayman Fayez.
That fight, like the rest of the competition, took place at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London, where the Creole defeated Swiss Max Heinzer 15-11 in the second round. In the quarterfinals he faced Italian Paolo Pizzo and dominated him 15-12.
In the semi-finals he faced the American Weston Seth Kelsey and beat him 6-5 in what some international sports commentators, such as the Argentine Juan Pablo Varsky who in 2012 worked for DirecTV Sports – now DSports – described as the most exciting duel of that day.
The highlight of Limardo’s career, who is present as an athlete at Paris 2024, came in the Grand Final. There he faced Bartosz Piasecki, a Norwegian whom he beat 15-10 to hang a golden circle in front of the applause of the London public.
In this way, the representative of Venezuela climbed to the top of the podium completed by the aforementioned Piasecki (second place) and the South Korean Jung Jin-Sun (third place).
What was so special about that medal?
According to Olympics.com, Limardo became only the second Latin American to win an individual epee event in 108 years. The first to achieve the unique feat was Cuban Ramón Fonst in St. Louis 1904.
It also ended a drought of 44 calendars without celebrations for Venezuelans in official events, after the yellow metal won by Rodríguez in 1968. Completing great feats filled him with pride.
“I came here to London and won a gold medal. I really want to dedicate this very special title to Venezuela, my home country,” she told the IOC press department after playing the national anthem Gloria al Bravo Pueblo in the English capital.
“My goal since childhood was to be an Olympic champion and today (August 1, 2012) I have achieved it. I feel very happy,” added the athlete who on August 7, 2012 was received as a hero by his compatriots at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, La Guaira state.
One of the citizens who congratulated him at the airport was Rodríguez, who hugged him and expressed his admiration for achieving a feat that will remain indelible in the memory of fans of the national Olympic movement.
Valencia / Joseph Ñambre
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2024-08-02 17:42:05
