Chloe Dickson: It's an amazing feeling to win Commonwealth gold

Glenrothes fencer Chloe Dickson says she felt 'numb' after she clinched gold at the Senior Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Australia.
Glenrothes fencer Chloe Dickson wins individual foil event at the Senior Commonwealth Fencing Championships in AustraliaGlenrothes fencer Chloe Dickson wins individual foil event at the Senior Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Australia
Glenrothes fencer Chloe Dickson wins individual foil event at the Senior Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Australia

Chloe won silver four years ago in Glasgow at Commonwealth Fencing Championships but went one better in Canberra after defeating England’s Ayesha Fihosy in the women’s individual foil final 14-9 on November 23.

It has been an incredible few weeks for the 22-year-old, who has won four gold medals in three weeks after emerging victorious in the Welsh Open, Australian Open, the individual foil event at the Commonwealths, and playing a starring role in Team Scotland’s gold success.

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She told the Gazette: “It is an amazing feeling to win gold.

“It is one of those moments that you can’t really describe. I felt numb, I’m not sure it has actually sunk in yet. It’s difficult to put into words. I had finished second in 2014 so it was great to go and better the result here. This gives me the belief to go onto bigger and better things.”

Chloe said she was targeting gold before the event but conceded it was hope rather than expectation that Scotland could do the same.

That feat seemed even more unlikely when Scotland were trailing 37-40 in the final to England before Chloe took on England’s no.1 Kate Beardmore and secured an 8-0 victory to win gold.

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Chloe said: “They should have beat us, England and Australia were very strong but I just focused on one hit at a time and stuck to my gameplan and it paid off.”

After missing out on selection for the British team at the European Championships, Chloe saw her ranking slip from second to fifth in the UK.

But recent victories have reinforced her belief that she can compete with and beat the best.

She said: “I’m not bitter about not being selected,

“You just have to deal with it, but I have shown that I have outperformed the girls and results show I’m worthy of selection. I’m just focusing on my fencing and happy to be proving them wrong.”

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Next up for Chloe, who turns 23 on Saturday, is the British team championships where she will be looking to help Edinburgh fencing club retain their title for a fifth consecutive year on Sunday.

She said: “That result gives me huge confidence. We travel down on Saturday to London so that will be a fun birthday! It would be great to win on Sunday.”