LIMARDO GASCON Ruben

General
FENCING FAMILY
Having competed at senior international level with his younger brother Francisco several times, it was not until 2017 that his youngest brother Jesus joined them at World Cup level. The three siblings went on to claim victory in team epee at the 2017 Pan American Championships in Montreal, QC, Canada. His mother, who died in 2010,and his uncle Ruperto Gascon established a project in Venezuela to send fencers to Poland where they could train. The scheme later became known as the Ruben Limardo Foundation. "It is really difficult to develop as an athlete in Venezuela. There is no system to help you achieve success. So they created a system. My uncle was a fencer, and he trained in the former Soviet Union. Years later, he chose Poland because it was an important country. Plus it was cheap. It was the centre of Europe. In his opinion, Poland was the ideal place to establish the project. Now [speaking in 2020] we have over 20 Venezuelan athletes in the foundation. The aim of the project is to provide quality of life to the athletes. In Venezuela, many children don't have the means to practise fencing, so they see it as an elite discipline. Our intention is to fulfil the dreams of these children." (tokyo2020.org, 10 Aug 2020; cactus24.com.ve, 18 Jun 2017; meridiano.com.ve, 27 May 2017)

OTHER ROLES
He has served as president of the Venezuelan Athletes' Commission. He also was alternate deputy at the Venezuelan National Assembly in 2015, which is an experience he regrets. "It was something that I lived and I can only say that I was wrong. I don't know about politics, my stuff is sports. Those are very different things. It taught me to be stronger, to fight, and to decide that I wanted to keep on claiming victories for Venezuela." (triangulodeportivo.com, 12 Sep 2020; analitica.com, 04 May 2019)

FUTURE PLANS
He hopes to continue competing up until the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and then take up a role with the Venezuelan Olympic Committee and the national fencing federation. "I want to be president of the Venezuelan Fencing Federation to bring knowledge and good management in order to prioritise all issues. I want to be on the Venezuelan Olympic Committee and also the international one [the IOC]. I would like to help sports by improving management." (triangulodeportivo.com, 12 Sep 2020; marcavinotinto.com, 11 Sep 2020)

FOOD DELIVERY
During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 his family from Venezuela joined him in Poland, where he trains and lives. After some weeks, he had to start working as a food delivery person in order to make ends meet as sponsors did not support him due to the lack of competitions. "Bringing my family to Europe was really hard and I needed to not waste money but produce it. I found a job that doesn't affect my training because I can have the schedule I need. Of course, when I have a day with a lot of training I work less delivering food, but somehow I manage to do both. I am an athlete, so I always have the energy to do more. I use a lot of energy and am very tired, but it also helps me. As the job involves riding a bicycle, I keep moving and preparing my body, so that helps. I have strengthened my legs and, as an athlete, that helps me a lot. Every time I step on the pedal I get closer to winning a medal in Tokyo. It is extra motivation." (tokyo2020.org, 03 Dec 2020; apnews.com, 16 Nov 2020)

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London he became the first fencer form Venezuela to win an Olympic gold medal. He defeated Norwegian Bartosz Piasecki in the individual epee final to also secure Venezuela's first Olympic gold in any sport since the 1968 Games in Mexico City. (SportsDeskOnline, 14 Jun 2019; fie.org, 04 Aug 2016; bbc.co.uk, 03 Aug 2012)