Hometown hero James Burke believes he has shaken off the first day nerves after getting his Para Fencing European Championship campaign underway.
The Newport star, 42, lost his last 32 epee bout in Cardiff but took significant positives heading into his favoured sabre weapon later in the week. Burke went down 15-7 against Vadim Shenfeld after navigating his way through the pool stages on Wednesday morning.
Confidence from the pools
And he hopes that experience will help him feel more at ease when he returns to the piste in front of a supportive home crowd.
“The day went really well,” he said. “Epee is not my main weapon so the fact I had a good pool stage, I’m really pleased with. There is still lots to work on going forward.
“I can take confidence from this going forward into my favoured weapons – it gets rid of those first day nerves and makes you feel more comfortable when you’re actually fencing. The pools are always quite difficult to start with – the nerves and everyone around. Once you settle in, it’s much easier.”
European Championships in Cardiff
The European Championships are being held in the UK for the first time since Sheffield in 2011, hosted at the Sport Wales National Centre in the shadow of Sophia Gardens. World Abilitysport awarded the hosting of the continental showpiece to British Fencing, in partnership with UK Sport, supported by funding from The National Lottery and the Welsh Government.
The event comes after the successful hosting of a World Cup event in the city two years ago with Disability Sport Wales, the lead organisation for sport and physical activity for disabled people in Wales, leading the team of over almost 100 volunteers.
Home crowd support
And Burke admits he’s loving the experience, adding: “It’s great to be competing here in Cardiff.
“It’s nice to have so many people around here and was good weather for it, until today!”
The Para Fencing European Championships, supported by funding from UK Sport through The National Lottery, and Welsh Government, is being held in Cardiff on the 6th-11th October 2026, seeing athletes from across Europe compete in the first qualification event for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.
