When Marcus Mepstead felt his Olympic dream slipping away, it took a bold hop across the Atlantic Ocean to salvage his fencing career and set him back on the path to Tokyo.
The Londoner was officially selected as Team GB's sole fencer for this summer's Olympic Games this week after enduring a bumpy, adversity-filled ride since Rio 2016.
British Fencing lost its funding in 2017 to leave Mepstead – part of the foil team who finished sixth in Brazil – and the sport at a crossroads.
Mepstead seriously considered retiring but says joining forces with elite coach Dan Kellner in New York placed him firmly back on track.
The 31-year-old’s silver medal at the 2019 World Championship then catapulted him into Olympic contention, while also enabling British Fencing to secure National Lottery funding and build a support team for him.
And with Tokyo now back on the agenda, Mepstead can reflect on a rollercoaster ride to this point.
Congratulations @MarcusMepstead 💥-our sole fencer selected today for the @Tokyo2020 Olympic Games! #Tokyo2020 @britishfencing
— Team GB (@TeamGB) May 21, 2021
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“It’s been a surreal journey,” he admitted. “After we lost our funding, it was a decision: ‘shall I retire or keep going?’ I was really close – I remember sitting down and thinking: ‘this is just impossible.’
“There were questions marks about whether I should I step away, but I’m really happy I didn’t. It was kind of that miracle moment and a turning point.
“I thought it would be a disservice to me, all the training the work that I’d done and the people that had supported me, if I was to give up.
“I tried to find every avenue I could to support myself. I went around looking for different coaches and the connection I had with [Dan] was really strong.
“He’s a great coach and his students have done really well. I felt like I was moving to a good place and that was going to be the difference.
“The beginning was very difficult – moving to New York on a budget is not an easy thing to do and in the first two years there were a lot of struggles.
“But it’s been a great success – it’s now given me the opportunity to regain my funding.
“I’ve been able to rebuild the team around me and that team has really helped support me through. It was a very challenging move but it was very necessary for me to be in the position I am today.”
Mepstead’s first major fencing success came when he helped Great Britain to team foil bronze at the 2010 European Championships in Leipzig – the first British medal at a major event since 1965 – before bagging gold in the same event at the 2015 European Games in Baku.
He finished sixth alongside Laurence Halsted, James-Andrew Davis and Richard Kruse in the team event in Rio before that loss of funding threw his future into chaos.
But a newfound partnership with fencing guru Kellner – a two-time Pan American Games foil champion – in the Big Apple provided a shot in the arm to his career and laid the foundations for his brilliant 2019 world silver.
That Budapest success put Mepstead in pole position for Olympic contention and, after Covid-19 scuppered his initial Olympic plans, his place on the plane is finally secure.
And now the Hampstead ace can aim high in Tokyo.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs and while you know that’s a big part of your sport, it certainly doesn’t make it any easier,” he said.
“But that silver medal has really cemented my place within the top 16 in the world and these are the guys who will be fighting for those medals in Tokyo.
“I’m really confident in the work I’ve been doing with my coach, and I think I’ve done everything to give myself the best possible chance to win that gold medal in Tokyo.”
Sportsbeat 2021