🇲🇽 NATALIA BOTELLO DOMINATES IN LIMA TO CLAIM MAIDEN PAN AMERICAN SABRE TITLE

LIMA, PERU — 16 JUNE 2026

Mexico’s world number 25 Natalia Botello put on a masterclass in aggressive, tactical sabre fencing on the second day of the 2026 Pan American Fencing Championships, capturing her first-ever senior individual international title. Botello, who took home the continental silver medal last year, clinically went one step higher on the podium in Lima, out-pointing Puerto Rico’s breakthrough talent Gabriela Hwang 15–9 in an electric gold medal final.

Botello's golden campaign was marked by absolute dominance from the opening phrase, providing Mexico with a stellar individual championship triumph.

While Hwang secured a historic silver medal for Puerto Rico, the bronze medals went to Venezuela’s Katherine Paredes Torres and Argentina’s Maria Perroni in a day dominated by Latin American fencing powerhouses.

Path to the Podium

Natalia Botello (World number 25) was in sublime form all morning, sweeping all six of her poule matches to lock down the number one overall seed for the direct elimination stage. Following a first-round bye, the Mexican star immediately flexed her elite circuit experience, routing Chile's Constanza Bossay 15–4 before delivering a stunning 15–7 round-of-16 upset over USA's world number six Maia Chamberlain. Botello maintained her ruthless momentum by dismantling Canada's Ywen Liu 15–6 in the quarter-finals and storming past Paredes Torres 15–7 in the semi-finals before dictating the pace against Hwang to seal the gold.

Gabriela Hwang (World number 44) celebrated the finest achievement of her fencing career, authoring a sensational run to secure her first-ever senior international medal. Seeded seventh after winning five of her six poule matches, the Puerto Rican navigated a tense bracket with incredible poise. Hwang battled past Venezuela’s Crelia Prieto Jimenez 15–13, out-dueled Argentina’s Alicia Borrelli 15–10 and comfortably dispatched Colombia’s Jessica Blanco Narvaez 15–8. In the semi-finals, she won a breathless 15–13 thriller against Perroni to guarantee her historic silver.

Katherine Paredes Torres (World number 64) engineered an exceptional, unblemished run to capture her first individual senior international medal. The Venezuelan standout earned the number four seed after sweeping all five of her poule assignments. After a round-of-64 bye, she eliminated Brazil's Leticia Fraga 15–11 and Canada's Madison Thurgood 15–2. Paredes Torres locked down her spot on the podium by pulling off a spectacular 15–12 quarter-final upset over USA’s world number 29 Tatiana Sullivan, ensuring Venezuela a proud bronze medal.

Maria Perroni (World number 100) defied her triple-digit ranking to complete the tournament's definitive fairytale podium run, capturing her first individual senior international medal. Seeded 11th after a strong 4–1 poule showing, the Argentine looked utterly fearless in direct elimination. She comfortably dispatched Canada's Zi Jia Liu 15–10 before winning an all-Argentine round-of-16 clash against Estefania Espinosa Veloso 15–9. Perroni then secured her historic bronze by comprehensively defeating USA’s rising star Lola Possick 15–9 in the quarter-finals, falling just two touches short of the final in her semi-final epic against Hwang.

Full results are here.