With six World Cup victories and a best world ranking of No. 2, Sherraine MacKay has an impressive international record. In this insightful autobiography, she describes with humour and irony her journey from the Canadian backwoods to the top echelon of women's epee. To improve her ranking, she moved to France where she experienced loneliness, eating disorders and depression, but at the 1999 world championships, she came 6th, missing a medal by one hit.
Following a disappointing Sydney Olympics, she decided to train seriously for the next Games. First the small matter of marriage intervened. With her husband Geordie MacKay she moved to Paris so that she could fence at the Racing Club and benefit from advanced coaching. To make ends meet, they lived like students, she working as an English-language teacher and he as a babysitter.
Despite peaking at just the right time to win the last pre-Olympic World Cup event, she encountered another nightmare in Athens, losing in the first round and was left contemplating her goals. But she determined to buckle down for another Olympiad, moving on to Budapest where the living was cheaper. She is still in the world top 10, so the stage is set for a second instalment of Sherraine MacKay's inspirational memoirs.
