Maxine Esteban nears Olympic dream

Fencer Maxine Esteban off to a strong start for Ivory Coast in bid to qualify for Paris Olympics. –CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Filipino-Ivorian fencer Maxine Esteban will compete in a final Olympic-qualifying tournament in Washington D.C. on March 15, looking to officially book a ticket to the Summer Games slated in Paris this year.

Esteban, who switched federations after being controversially dropped by the Philippine Fencing Association (PFA), currently leads the race for the direct qualification spot for the African continental zone. Esteban is also currently the second-best Asian among female foil athletes in the Olympic qualification ranking.

Interestingly, she would have been a solid bet for one of two Asian continental slots to the Paris Games and could have been the fifth Olympian for the Philippines had she not switched federations due to what she said was an “unfair and unjust” treatment of her by the PFA.

READ: Top PH fencer Maxine Esteban transfers to Ivory Coast

“I will continue to work hard and hopefully take back my dream that people tried to take away from me,” said Esteban, an eight-time Philippine champion and multi-World Cup medalist, who is looking to be the first female Filipino fencer to qualify for the Olympics.

A strong showing in the Washington qualifier would officially hand Esteban an Olympic berth outright without her having to go through a wild card tournament, which is reserved for countries with no fencers directly qualifying in the sport yet.