YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD

She gave up the sport for decades – now Glenda has won a gold medal in fencing at the age of 61!

- ROBYN LUCAS

WHEN she saw who she was competing against, her heart sank. How was she, a 61-year-old

granny, going to be any match for a fit and ferociously competitive 40-something?

But as soon as Glenda Pieters felt the cold metal of her foil in her hand, followed by the command from the referee to stand en garde for her bout at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in London, all lingering self-doubt evaporated.

It’s days later and she’s talking to us about the amazing victory that helped her secure gold against her Australian competitor in her age category.

“I beat her,” she tells us from her home in Rondebosch, Cape Town. “I thought, ‘My gosh, Glenda, did you just beat that woman who’s 20 years younger than you?’ It was mind-blowing.”

What made it even more impressive is that Glenda started competing at top level only about 18 months ago after stepping away from the sport for decades. But it didn’t take her long at all to get back into her stride and prove her mettle.

During the five-day Commonwealth tournament she competed in the épée division – a sharp-pointed duelling sword used with the end blunted – against 10 fellow fencers whose ages ranged between 40 and 70 years old.

When she flew to London she told herself that she was just there to have fun sparring with her mainly younger and much fitter competitors. It never crossed her mind that she might beat them to clinch gold.

“It was really beyond my wildest dreams,” Glenda tells us.