Rubén Limardo

Rubén Dario Limardo Gascón (born 3 August 1985) is a Venezuelan left-handed épée fencer, five-time team Pan American champion, four-time individual Pan American champion, three-time Olympian, and 2012 individual Olympic champion.^[1]

Limardo competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

His younger brothers, Francisco and Jesus, also compete in fencing on the international level. In 2015 he was elected to the National Assembly for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.^[2]

Born in Ciudad Bolívar, Limardo competed for his native country in the 2008 Olympics épée competition, placing 23rd.

Limardo competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London winning a gold medal in the individual épée event at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre on 1 August, two days before his 27th birthday.^[3] He won the gold when he defeated Norway's Bartosz Piasecki 15–10 in the men's épée final, winning Venezuela's first ever fencing medal, and Latin America's first Olympic gold medal in épée in 108 years, after Ramón Fonst won the event in 1904.^[4]

Limardo earned Venezuela's second gold medal in any Olympic Games with the first being at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games when Francisco Rodríguez won gold as a boxer in the light flyweight division.^[5]

He competed in the team and individual épée events at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Olympic Games. In the individual event, he was eliminated in the round of 32 by Ayman Mohamed Fayez of Egypt,^[6] Romain Cannone of France,^[7] and Tibor Andrásfi of Hungary,^[8] respectively. He was the flagbearer for Venezuela during the opening ceremony in the 2016 Olympics.^[9]

Limardo began fencing at the age of seven, encouraged by an uncle who had discovered the sport in Hungary.^[10] He was originally a right-handed foil fencer before injury caused him to switch both hand and weapon.^[10]

He was awarded the Venezuelan Order of the Liberator after winning his gold medal at the London Olympic Games. President Hugo Chávez also presented him with a gold replica of Simon Bolivar's sword encrusted with precious stones.^[11]

His brother Jesús Limardo also competes in fencing competitions. He has been a member of Piast Gliwice fencing club and currently resides in Łódź, Poland.^[12][13]

• Ruben Limardo Gascon at the International Fencing Federation
• Ruben Limardo Gascon at the European Fencing Confederation
• Rubén Limardo at Olympedia
• Ruben Limardo Gascon at Olympics.com
• Ruben Limardo Gascon at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
• Ruben Dario Limardo Gascon at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games (archived, alternate link)