Loser

Well, I came in fifth in a field of 11. The thing about fencing is that competition is very personal, and not entirely predictable: I lost to a young woman whom I beat in previous bouts. She ended up taking third, beating a young man whom I had beaten in the pools earlier in the day. My performance in the pool was much better than in the direct elimination, but if I had drawn the gentleman who eventually won second, or he who won fourth, then perhaps I would have ranked higher.

Oh, well.