PAGE Gabriella

Personal Information

Residence Blainville, QC, CAN

Occupation Athlete, Coach, Sales

Languages English, French

Higher education Political Science - Concordia University: Montreal, QC, CAN

License number 29101994000

Club

Upcoming Events

Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? She began fencing at age 14.

Why this sport? She had been attending a day camp in Blainville, QC, Canada, and her mother asked her if she preferred to enrol in fencing or for acting lessons. "At that time, I didn't even know what fencing was, but my mother explained it to me and I told her to choose it for me. For once I was better than my brother at something. I was beating him and he didn't like it."

Club / Team Club d'Escrime Les Seigneurs: Quebec, QC, CAN

Handedness Right

International Debut

Year 2011

Competing for Canada

Tournament World Championships

Location Catania, ITA

General Interest

Nicknames Gabby, Gab, Gabry, Page (fencing.ca, 13 Mar 2017)

Hobbies Cooking, listening to music. (Azza Fencing Instagram profile, 08 May 2023; blainville.ca, 01 Sep 2021)

Memorable sporting achievement Competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and winning two silver medals at the 2022 Pan American Championships in Asuncion, Paraguay. (Azza Fencing Instagram profile, 08 May 2023)

Most influential person in career Her mother. (Instagram profile, 09 May 2021)

Hero / Idol US American football player Ray Lewis. (fencing.ca, 13 Mar 2017)

Injuries She fell and sustained a partial anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] tear to her left knee while competing against Indian sabre fencer Bhavani Devi at the 2022 World Championships in Cairo, Egypt. In August 2022 she underwent surgery. She was supposed to return to competition in May 2023 but then she fell during training and reinjured her left knee. (Instagram profile, 14 May 2023, 25 Aug 2022, 21 Jul 2022; lapresse.ca, 26 Apr 2023, 20 Jul 2022)

In November 2022 she was involved in a car accident and sustained a concussion. (lapresse.ca, 26 Apr 2023; Instagram profile, 07 Nov 2022)

In July 2021 she sustained a sprained ankle. She underwent physiotherapy twice a day to ensure she was able to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (journalinfoslaurentides.com, 16 Jul 2021; journallenord.com, 13 Jul 2021)

In October 2020 she tore a calf muscle. She returned to training and competition in early 2021. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 May 2021; sportcom.qc.ca, 13 Mar 2021; Instagram profile, 03 Dec 2020)

In February 2017 she suffered a tear to the patellar tendon in her knee. She returned to competition to qualify for the 2017 Pan American Championships in Montreal, QC, Canada. She had to withdraw from the championships, however, when she fell off her bicycle on the way to training and suffered concussion. She then suffered knee pain in late 2017 and took three months off before returning to competition in January 2018. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 May 2021; lapress.ca, 13 Jun 2020)

She missed five months of competition between August 2013 and January 2014 due to a foot injury. (sportcafe.ca, 31 Jan 2014)

Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs She does breathing exercises and meditates five minutes before she competes. (Azza Fencing Instagram profile, 31 Mar 2023)

Sporting philosophy / motto "I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times." [Bruce Lee] (olympic.ca, 11 Jun 2015)

Ambitions To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (blainville.ca, 01 Sep 2021)

Other information CONFIDENCE LOSS
She started working with sports psychologist Heidi Malo after admitting that missing out on qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and an injury-interrupted 2017 led to a loss of confidence. She had also experienced episodes of anxiety and chest contractions during training and in competitions. "I cried so much when I didn't make it to Rio. I think I cried for two weeks. Then, we were not even a year from the start of [2020] Olympic qualification and I had no confidence and didn't like fencing anymore. It was a disaster. I don't know what I had, but it felt as if my fencing mask was taking my breath away. But I've worn my mask a million times, so I knew that wasn't the problem. Heidi kind of saved my career and I'm trying to find ways to control it and to manage it well." (lapress.ca, 13 Jun 2020)