Olympian fencer Catantan to undergo surgery for torn ACL

MANILA, Philippines -- Despite retearing her left ACL, Filipina Olympian Sam Catantan is eager to have a full recovery and make it back to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Catantan had an impressive Olympic debut in Paris, winning her first round bout against Brazil’s Mariana Pistoia, 15-13, before pushing World No. 2 Arianna Errigo to the limit, 12-25.

Against Errigo, Catantan even led 5-4 before the 36-year-old Italian asserted her mastery over the 22-year-old.

The Filipina on Tuesday said that against Pistoia, she actually had a full ACL tear on her left knee – the same knee that she injured last year.

In an interview during Tuesday's victory party for the Olympians at the Hilton Manila, Catantan said that she will go under the knife on Friday.

“Actually, I am not sure if you know, when I was facing the Brazilian, I retore my ACL. So I finished the match with a torn ACL and continued my second match with the injury,” she told reporters.

“Actually, right now, I’m taking my time to have fun because on Friday, I will have my surgery. And it’s gonna be a challenge for the next few months for me,” she added.

But with Los Angeles still four years away, Catantan said she will have plenty of time to recover, unlike what happened last year when she had to rush her recovery.

An ACL surgery usually has a 10 to 12 month recovery period, but she had to fence eight months after her surgery last year to try and make it to the 2024 Olympics.

“Of course, I really want to be in the Olympics again. And I’m gonna take my time to recover because last year, my recovery was rushed to make it to Paris and we were able to do that. But, the risk was there to retear my ACL, my injury,” she said.

“But for now, I really want to focus on what’s in front of me, of course. The recovery right after my upcoming surgery,” she added, as she bared that she will return to Penn State to start her post-graduate studies.

“I’ll try to focus on that, while recovering. And then, after that, when I graduate, I finally have time to focus on preparing for LA.”

Following her Olympic debut, Catantan is now ranked 87th among the world’s fencers from her previous rank of 266.

“I am very happy that my ranking rose after competing in the Olympics. But of course, now that I’m about to have a surgery, I will miss a few tournaments again, the ranking will drop again,” she said.

“But, at the same time, I have three more years to prepare and to join more tournaments. Hopefully, my ranking will rise again.”