Taymí Chappé Valladares

Living legend of fencing, this Cuban sportswoman naturalized as Spanish. She competed for Spain in fencing, specializing in the épée discipline. She was world champion in épée for her country and for Spain.

Taymí Chappé was born in Havana, was the daughter of Cuban athlete Pedro Chappé, a Cuban basketball player who was an Olympic medalist at the Munich Games in 1972. In Havana she began practicing fencing and started what would be a successful sports career.

As a member of Cuba's national fencing team, she obtained the title of absolute world champion in women's épée in Lyon 1990.

Taymí emigrated to Spain after the Barcelona 92 Olympic Games, after marrying a Spanish citizen, from whom she later divorced.

In 1994 she acquired nationality by letter of naturalization, which allowed her to be part of the Spanish national fencing team, with which she won the world title in team épée in Athens in 1994.

In 1996 she was ranked number 1 in the World Cup and was part of the Spanish team at the Atlanta Olympic Games, United States.

In 1997 she won the bronze medal at the World Championship in Cape Town.

Taymi Chappé Valladares died on November 3, 2020 in Miami, the city where she lived, as a result of a heart attack during a break while practicing fencing. Everything happened at the fencing club of some friends when, during a break while practicing fencing, Chappé collapsed and nothing could be done to save her life. She was fifty-two years old.