"Bubbly" is probably the verb that best describes Anne Sauer's emotional world at the moment.

"I'm a Fucking World Cup Winner," the foil fencer trumpeted in a mixture of pride and disbelief via Instagram over the weekend after winning a World Cup tournament in Belgrade for the first time in her long career.

And that too with a 15:14 win in the final against her teammate Leonie Ebert, after she even defeated Olympic champion Lee Kiefer (USA) in the semifinals.

Achim Dreis

sports editor.

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Even days later, the 31-year-old is still in high spirits in conversation.

Physically a bit exhausted after several days of exertion on a planche that was laid out on a tiled floor and therefore not exactly ideal for fencing, but mentally well prepared, Anne Sauer sees her success "as a blatant confirmation" of the many years of work.

The facets of the self-reflection of a sportswoman, who as a child came across a newspaper article about fencing, range from “never stop believing in yourself” to “that was just the beginning”.

A respectable career has long since grown out of the taster training session in Hardheim-Höpfingen, with ten German championship titles and an EM medal in the team.

But the final step to breaking through to the top of the world was still missing.

"We knew that at some point the knot would burst," said sports director Sven Ressel in view of Anne Sauer's long-awaited World Cup victory - and immediately had an explanation ready as to what could have given her the last kick.

For a year and a half she has been training at the base in Bonn with Benjamin Kleibrink, who is actually hired as a youth trainer for the men's foil.

But the 2008 Beijing Olympic champion is also Anne Sauer's friend.

And the shared lessons obviously fit.

"It's going well," says the athlete about the training work with her partner.

In terms of sport, she sees no reason to doubt the Olympic champion's expertise.

And personally, the two don't take their battles home, even if, of course, "you can never really separate them," as Anne Sauer admits.

The constant challenge in the training competition with the boys obviously suits her very well, which Ressel has also noticed: She has become "significantly more athletic", fights "bolder" and appears "mentally stronger", according to the sports director's expertise.

While Sauer used to prefer a more reserved style, "she can now lead and shape battles".

Anne Sauer sees the competition in the national squad with Leonie Ebert, who is almost ten years her junior, as enriching.

Especially since both are fighting for "Future Fencing Wehrbach", a team that was founded a few years ago to compete with the established FC Tauberbischofsheim and sees itself as more future-oriented, family-friendly and sustainable.

Of course, national foil coach Giovanni Bortolaso, who teaches in Tauberbischofsheim, is also equally involved in Anne Sauer's new personal concept for success.

In Tokyo, Leonie Ebert was on her own as a German soloist and failed in the round of 16.

For Paris, she should now lead a whole team together with Sauer as a double leader.

In fencing, the way to the Olympics is mainly via the team, which is why the second place of the German team in Belgrade was almost more important than the individual successes.

"Paris 2024 is definitely the goal," Anne Sauer clearly defined.

She sees the European Championships, World Championships and other World Cup tournaments as intermediate steps.

At the end of April she wants to prove at the home World Cup in Tauberbischofsheim that the future has only just begun for her.

"We have to use the flow now," says Ressel - and sounds almost as enthusiastic as his athlete.