Bayer readies for the Sydney Games

He also knows that he will need more experience against the world's top fencers to improve upon his first-round exit from those Games. The question is, will he be fully prepared by the time he heads to Sydney next September for the XXVII Olympiad. In order to get as many bouts under his belt as he possibly can, Bayer is taking the year off from his studies at Penn. Penn coach Dave Michanik expects that there will be some impact on the Quakers. He does not, however, expect the defending Ivy League champions to fall apart, especially since Bayer's only action last season came against Princeton, as the 22-year-old was busy with United States Olympic Committee action. "I won't tell you that it doesn't matter because that would be silly," Michanik said. "But the team is still very good, and one man can only win three bouts at a 27-bout meet." While Bayer knows that he will always be able to go back to school, he realizes that now is the time when he must capitalize on the opportunity for Olympic glory. "There was really no worse feeling in my life than stepping up into the Olympics and losing," Bayer said. "I was pretty young back then and feel like I'm now in my top shape, and that if I can't do it now, I'm definitely not going to be able to do it later, so I want to give it the shot. As far as school, it'll be there next year." Bayer's preparation for Sydney started off well this summer. In May, he was honored as the USOC's Male Athlete of the Month for his bronze medal performance at a World Cup event in Espinho, Portugal. He was also featured on the cover of the July/August issue of Olympian magazine. Bayer, a foilist, continued his summer at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Canada, where he took home the silver medal in August. In Sydney, Bayer will try to become the first American man to win an Olympic medal in fencing since 1984 and only the second since 1960. Bayer followed up his earlier performances by becoming the first American ever to win the gold medal at a World Cup event. The New York City native defeated Ukraine's Sergei Goloubitsky by an impressive 15-6 margin in the quarterfinals in St. Petersburg, Russia. Goloubitsky is the defending world foil champion and is ranked No. 1 in the world. "[Goloubitsky] -- he's the man," Bayer said. "To beat the world champion, that was one of the best wins of my career." Bayer then defeated Russia's Dimitri Chevtchenko in the finals. The victory raised Bayer's worldwide ranking from No. 23 to No. 14. "It's a great advantage to be in the top 16 because you get a bye automatically into the second day of competition and you then get to fence someone who's a lower seed," Bayer said. Bayer's top goal going into the Olympics is to raise his ranking as much as possible, "so that I go in with a good chance not only to compete, but to have a good shot at a medal." Bayer's next chance to garner points to raise his ranking will be at a World Cup event in October, in Haifa, Israel. Bayer plans to compete in all of the World Cup events leading up to the Olympics. While this means that Bayer will have to travel quite a bit -- the closest World Cup event to home will be in Venezuela -- he knows that there is great importance in fencing actual bouts and not just practicing. "You can see how much different the intensity of the competition is," Bayer said. "In '96, there were nine World Cup events, and now there are five extras, and they're all going to be really intense." Through all of this competition, as well as a two-a-day practice schedule, Bayer will have to try to remain injury-free. In 1996, Bayer tore a knee ligament which hampered his performance in the Games. It won't be easy for Bayer to make the leap from the cover of Olympian to the Olympic podium, but with a year dedicated strictly to training, he's on track to realizing his Olympic dreams.