'Tenacity and will' guided Eleanor Harvey's lifelong journey to milestone fencing medal

You could see the shock in her face.

Eleanor Harvey had just won Canada's first-ever fencing medal, a bronze in women's individual foil, and she fell to her knees in celebration, her mouth agape. 

Minutes later, in her post-game interview, Harvey still could not come to grips with her victory.

"I feel like I'm in a dream. I feel like somebody spiked my drink or something. That's a joke. Sorry, I'm not funny right now. I'm in shock," she said.

Harvey's podium appearance marked the culmination of nearly two decades of work in the sport. She'll compete once more in Paris in the team foil event when Canada takes on France in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 5:50 a.m. ET at the Grand Palais.

But her journey wasn't always easy. 

WATCH | Harvey wins historic medal for Canada:

Harvey's mom, Lise Graydon, who was with her for the medal moment, sold her house to fund her daughter's fencing future.

"We had to move in with my grandma. My grandma would sleep on a couch, so that I could have a bed. So it's not just my mom," Harvey, the 29-year-old of Hamilton, Ont., said.

The barrier to entry, then, can be high. For Harvey's family, it required sacrifice and determination.

"She went through those challenges that a lot of rich kids don't need to go through. Therefore, she's way stronger," said Peter Ho, a coach at the Toronto Fencing Club who spent time with Harvey as a young athlete.

Ho recalled joining Harvey at a youth event when she was 10. Harvey won silver – but she wasn't satisfied.

"I said why are you not happy?" Ho recalled. "She said my goal is to make Canadian history and medal in [the] Olympics. At the age of 10. It separates her from the others in terms of her dream at young age."

Nineteen years later, the dream has