Épée, Individual, Women

Britta Heidemann of Germany was the favourite by dint of her position on top of the world rankings and her win at the 2007 World Championships. The greatest hurdle between her and an Olympic title appeared to be a semi-final clash with Li Na, her opponent from the 2007 World final, who this time was fighting in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Heidemann triumphed in a close fought match against her Chinese opponent then saw off the challenge of Romania’s Ana Brânză to win the Olympic Championships. Heidemann was a fluent speaker of Mandarin after spending time in Beijing on a high school exchange program a decade earlier. A silver medallist in the team event in Athina, she had garnered publicity by posing naked for the German edition of Playboy in 2004. To the disappointment of the Beijing crowd Li Na’s attempt to fill the final place on the podium was thwarted by the veteran Hungarian Ildikó Mincza-Nébald who finally won an Olympic medal 16 years after making her first Olympic appearance in Barcelona.