Monica Aksamitさんのインスタグラム動画 - (Monica AksamitInstagram)「One evening at a brand dinner, I started sobbing uncontrollably when I was asked about fencing. I still continued to gaslit myself into thinking this chapter wasn’t over. I never once planned for things to turn out this way. After Tokyo, Paris 2024 was always the goal, but with the way that the qualification process went down, my heart, unknowingly to me, quietly shattered. I wanted to once again prove to myself that I deserve to compete among the best. However everytime I planned to head to my fencing club on a Monday I would wake up with extreme anxiety and an inability to function. All of the ways that the system failed me with the corruption, the lack of financial support and the toxic environment made the idea of returning unbearable. Don’t get me wrong, even through all of the negative aspects I still sob as I write this because without fencing, I would be nothing. Fencing made me the woman that I am today. It was my outlet as a child from the dysfunctional chaos that I would have to return to at home. It taught me discipline, confidence, to be humble, how to handle failure, commitment, self-reflection, to fight for what I want. It brought me some of the greatest people. People that I still look at as family, and love with my whole heart. I was challenged every single day and forced to better myself both internally and externally. It gave me the life that I have today. It allowed me to help inspire others and especially the little girls around the world that looked up to me as their role model. I had many challenges along my path, and many times I almost decided to quit. But I learned that quitting isn’t in my character and that the word “no” fuels me. Unfortunately, the fire and fight within me burnt out, and with a bittersweet heart I announce that I will no longer be fencing competitively on the world stage. Thank you to everyone that has always believed in me, pushed me, even if it was talking behind my back. I am eternally grateful for every single one of you. My coaches, my teammates, my sponsors, my agent, my fans, my haters, my friends, and my family. Thank you. I won’t say that you’ll never see me with a Sabre in hand, but for now, it’s goodbye 🩷」8月18日 3時21分