Filipina fencer Maxine Esteban pushes forward

MANILA, Philippines — Maxine Esteban, the Filipina fencer who now represents Ivory Coast in the international arena, has no plans of slowing down despite showing tiny cracks on her young body.

The charming 24-year-old, who honed her skills representing Ateneo in the UAAP before embarking on a long international journey, is in Lima, Peru to vie in the FIE Fencing Grand Prix this weekend.

It comes after Esteban shook off recent back pains, and a knee injury sustained even prior to last year’s Paris Olympics where she bowed out in the round-of-32.

Esteban has missed the circuit lately, causing her to slip in the women’s foil world rankings from No. 27 to No. 33. But she is bent on moving forward, regaining her old spot and, if on point, breaching the Top 20.

“I asked her if she wanted to retire but she didn’t want to. She said she feels she could further improve,” Esteban’s mother, Carol, told reporters last Tuesday.

“Maxine is now in Peru and then she wants to prepare hard for the African Championships (in Nigeria) in June and the World Championships (in China) in July,” said Carol.

“We’re just here to support her,” she added of the triple medalist in the 2017, 2019 and 2021 Southeast Asian Games, and gold winner in the European Circuit in Halle, Germany in 2023.

Over the past couple of years, Esteban travelled to Casablanca, Cairo, Tashkent, Copenhagen and Guatemala sharpening her sword.

She won the bronze in the 2023 African Championships in Egypt, then the silver last year in Morocco.

Third time could be a charm.