Maria Napoles

Maria Napoles

Portuguese foil fencer
Date of Birth: 07.11.1936
Country: Portugal

Content:
  1. Maria Theresa de Sousa Napoleão: A Pioneering Portuguese Fencer
  2. Olympic Debut
  3. Legacy and Later Life

Maria Theresa de Sousa Napoleão: A Pioneering Portuguese Fencer

Early Life and Career

Maria Theresa de Sousa Napoleão was born on November 7, 1936, in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique (now Maputo). She was a Portuguese foil fencer who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

Olympic Debut

Napoleão made history as the first Portuguese woman to represent her country in fencing at the Olympics. In 1960, she was part of the Portuguese team at the Rome Games, where she competed in individual foil. In the group stage, she faced strong opponents such as Ildikó Rejtő of Hungary, Heidi Schmid of the United Team of Germany, and Jacqueline Appar of Belgium, losing all four of her matches. Her bout against Carmen Val of Spain, which had no tournament significance, was not held as both fencers had lost all their matches and were eliminated. Napoleão and Val shared the 5th-6th places in the group.

Legacy and Later Life

Despite her early exit from the Olympics, Napoleão's participation was a milestone for Portuguese fencing. She remained the only female Olympic fencer in the country until 2008, when Débora Nóbrega competed in the Beijing Games.

In her later years, Napoleão was involved in community events. In 2016, she participated in the "Olympic Talks" in Setúbal, sharing her experiences as an Olympian with Portuguese audiences.

Sadly, Maria Theresa de Sousa Napoleão passed away on June 27, 2024, leaving behind a legacy as a pioneer in Portuguese fencing.

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