I agree, it's really such a shame! We have two of the current top 4 in the FIE world rankings in the women's sabre.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time that a rule was changed because of us, it happened in women's water polo when our girls were 2011 world champions and 2012 European silver medalists but still did not manage to qualify for London 2012. Now, the world champion is always automatically qualified for the Olympics
It's very unfortunate that Vougiouka retired after Rio 2016, she was only 30 yo which in this sport is not too old. She was ranked in the top 5 in this weapon and with her on the team, I think she would give a big boost to our team, and I'm surprised there wasn't more of a push to bring her back to the sport after Georgiadou didn't get the chance to qualify for Tokyo due to this rule.