Joseph Glasson is a fencer, specialising in foil, who was awarded a Tier 3 Scholarship within the 2023 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program. He is the second fencer to be a part of the Program.
Joseph was born in Shanghai, China in 2006 and moved to Sydney with his family at the end of 2018. Half-Chinese and half-Australian, Joseph attended an international British school in Shanghai, where he discovered fencing by complete chance, at an after-school club in 2012. Shortly after, while his friends continued playing soccer and rugby, he joined a local club where he trained regularly and fell in love with the sport.
Joseph’s potential was clear from a young age; at age 10, he won his first Chinese national youth event in a field of over 250 competitors and, between 2015 – 2018, won national medals in China, and international medals in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, USA, UK, and Australia.
As a 13-year-old in 2019, Joseph qualified for the Australian U17 National Men’s Foil Team that travelled to the World Championships in Poland. Unfortunately, though, on the eve of the competition, he suffered a stress fracture in his lower back which resulted in him having to withdraw from the event, and then endure a 9-month layoff. Had he been able to compete, he would have been the youngest ever competitor at an international U17 event.
By the end of 2019, Joseph had returned to training and was competing again on the Australian national competition circuit, where he finished 8th in his first tournament back from injury. Shortly after, he finished 55th out a field of 180 at the U20 World Cup.
Throughout 2021, Joseph medalled at every national event he attended, earning him enough points to become the number one ranked male foilist in Australia in every age category. He was then selected to represent the Australian National Men’s Foil Team in U17, U20 and Opens.
In April 2022, after missing three years of competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting travel restrictions and tournament cancellations, he made his U17, U20 and open age World Championship debut where he finished 29th from a field of 120 in the U17 category. He followed this success with a podium finish in the U17 category at the National American Cup, which had a field of 162 competitors.
Looking ahead, Joseph hopes to qualify for the 2024, 2028 and 2032 Olympics and to inspire young Australians to get involved in fencing.
“I’m honoured to have been chosen for a Tier 3 scholarship, and to be given the opportunity to be guided by such talented and hard-working people. As a young athlete, I’m sure I will be able to take away a lot from the program and learn from athletes who have experienced and overcome hardship and setbacks. I’ve always been a firm believer that sport benefits people in other parts of their life as well, and I’m certain becoming a SAHOF Scholarship recipient will not only help me grow and mature as an athlete, but also as a person.” – Joseph Glasson on being selected as a 2023 Tier 3 Scholarship Holder.
Honours & Achievements
- 2020/2021: Australia National Championship Open Men’s Foil – 3rd
- 2021: Australia National Championship Open Men’s Foil – 1st
- 2022: Charlotte National American Cup U17 Men’s Foil – 3rd
- 2022: Dubai World Championships U17 Men’s Foil – 29th
- 2022: Australia National Championships U20 Men’s Foil – 1st
- 2023: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder
