Sarra Besbes

Besbes was born in a sports family: her father Ali is a former basketball player, who became a physical education teacher; her mother Hayet Ben Ghazi is a former foil fencer, who became an international referee.[1] Her parents settled in Abu Dhabi before she was born. They had all their children–daughters Sarra, Azza, Héla and Rym, and son Ahmed Aziz–take up fencing. Azza and Héla are sabre fencers, while Ahmed Aziz is an epeist. Sarra herself fenced foil until the 2006–07 season before switching to épée.

At the 2011 World Championships in Catania, Besbes noticed she would fight an Israeli athlete during the qualifications phase. She asked the Tunisian Fencing Federation for instructions; the Ministry of Youth and Sports ordered her to drop the bout as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.[2] Instead of refusing the fight, which would have resulted in sanctions, Besbes remained completely passive during her bout against Israeli Noam Mills, allowing the latter to strike without offering any resistance.[3] This 5–0 defeat affected her seeding: in her first direct elimination bout she met eventual gold medallist China's Li Na of China and was largely overcome. Besbes commented afterwards: “I did my duty.”[2]

She qualified to the individual event of the 2012 Summer Olympics as the top-ranked female épée fencer for Africa. She defeated China's Xiaojuan Luo in the round of 32 and Korea Choi In-jeong in the round of 16, but was defeated in the quarter-finals by eventual silver medallist Britta Heidemann of Germany.[4]

During the 2014–15 season Besbes was selected by the Tunisian Olympic Committee to be part of a special preparation programme for Rio 2016. She climbed her first World Cup podium with a gold medal in Buenos Aires, this made her the first Tunisian fencer of either gender to win a World Cup event.[5]

She won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships.[6]

Besbes again qualified to the individual event of the 2016 Summer Olympics, and reached the quarterfinal. She was ultimately ranked 5th.