Nickname(s) Flaca Hand left-handed FIE Ranking current ranking Role Olympic athlete Weight 67 kg Country represented Argentina | Weapon(s) sabre National coach(es) Lucas Saucedo Name Maria Perez Height 1.80 m Residence Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
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Born 12 July 1985 (age 39)
San Nicolas, Buenos Aires ( 1985-07-12 ) Club Fundacion Argentina de Esgrima | ||
2018 Pan Ams Women's Saber Semis Perez Maurice vs. Stone
Maria Belen Perez Maurice (born July 12, 1985) is an Argentinian sabre fencer, Pan American champion in 2014. She was the only representative of the sport from Argentina at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
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Career
Perez Maurice started fencing at the age of thirteen at the instigation of her mother, who was herself an amateur fencer. She did not like the sport at first, but took an interest after her first victory. She trained at the Circulo Militar in Buenos Aires–her father is a colonel in the Argentine Army– under Lucas Saucedo, who remains her coach as of 2014.
She first fenced foil, a weapon in which she reached the quarter-finals at the 2006 Buenos Aires World Cup, then switched to sabre for the 2006–07 season. She began a career as a fashion model parallel to her sport career, but had to abandon it for lack of time. In 2011 she won two satellite tournaments and earned a bronze medal at the Pan American Championships in Reno, Nevada. These results allowed her to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics as one of the top two fencers from the American zone. She is the first Argentinian to gain Olympic access through FIE rankings. She lost 15–12 in the first round to Italy's Gioia Marzocca and finished 21st. In the 2013–14 season she won the gold medal at the Pan American Championships in San Jose after defeating Olympic champion Mariel Zagunis in the final. She finished the season No.21 in world rankings, a career best.
Perez Maurice studied food engineering at the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
Maria Belen won the bronze medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.
