Men’s Individual Epee
With Mate Tamas Koch (Hungary) beaten in round one by Grabiel Lugo (Venezuela) the top quarter became open and it was Timor Andrafsi (Hungary) who made his way through with a number of upsets. Koki Kano (Japan) would go through to face him in the semi final. The bottom quarter also saw the top Hungarian seed lose as Gergely Siklosi (Hungary) went out to Jakub Jurka (Czechia). This allowed Mohammed El-Sayed (Egypt) to go through as he upset Andrea Santarelli (Italy). In the semi final he came up against Yannick Borel (France), who edged past Masaru Yamada (Japan). Borel would get a comfy win in his semi, whilst Kano would edge Andrasfi 14-13. The pair lined up for the final with Borel dwarfing over Kano. It started tentatively as Borel kept his distance and it took 80 seconds for the first point to be scored. Kano led 3-2 after the first three minutes and it was 9-5 after six and he’d go on to complete the victory with a 15-9 win.
🥇Koki Kano 🇯🇵
🥈Yannick Borel 🇫🇷
🥉Mohamed El-Sayed 🇪🇬
Siklosi went out early but Kano and Borel both went through to the medal stages.
Men’s Team Epee
Italy were upset in the opening round by Czechia. Hungary would lead France throughout the whole bout and make the final after a final 45-30 victory. Czechia would go ahead of Japan in the final rally of the other semi final but Japan would ultimately come through 45-37. The final was a low-scoring contest that would go to sudden death where Gergely Siklosi would get the final point, fourteen seconds into overtime, against Koki Kano to win 26-25. France were not able to hang onto bronze despite a lead of four heading into the final round.
🥇Hungary 🇭🇺
🥈Japan 🇯🇵
🥉Czechia 🇨🇿
I did not think Czechia were going to compete to any great level. France were also upset by Hungary
Men’s Individual Foil
This was a strong draw. In the top quarter Maxime Pauty (France) upset Tommaso Marini (Italy) 15-14 despite being 10-2 down at one point. He would then lose to Kazuki Ilmura (Japan) 15-14 who also beat Alexander Massialas(United States). The second quarter saw Enzo Lefort (France) against Cheung Ka-long (Hong Kong). Lefort led 14-13 but Ka-long would score two decisive points to make the semi final. Filippo Macchi (Italy) upset Kysouke Matsuyama (Japan) and Mohamed Hamza (Egypt) to make the semi finals where he would face Nick Itkin (United States) who also had to come through a 15-14 victory. Ka-long and Macchi would come through the semi final relative unchallenged. The final was tied at 10-10 with Macchi then getting to 13. The match would tie again at 14 and match point was rematched twice before Ka-long got the victory.
🥇Cheung Ka-long 🇭🇰
🥈Filippo Macchi 🇮🇹
🥉Nick Itkin 🇺🇸
In my twelve main contenders, I mentioned the three men who would go onto medal. Macchi was the stronger of the Italians.
Men’s Team Foil
It was the expected big four who made it through the quarter-finals. In the semi final, Japan would beat France 45-37 whilst Italy beat United States 45-38. Enzo Lefort would change the course of the bronze medal matchup to help France win bronze. In the final, Japan would lead for the majority of the bout. They had an edge at 35-34, but Yudai Nagano would win five straight points to help build an insurmountable lead.
🥇Japan 🇯🇵
🥈Italy 🇮🇹
🥉France 🇫🇷
Again, I mentioned the four teams that the three medals come down to. Japan, however, were the one I doubted who eventually won gold.
Men’s Individual Sabre
The shocks came in the second round. Amongst the losers were Andras Szatmari (Hungary),Colin Heathcock (United States), Eli Dershwitz (United States), Maxime Pianfetti (France) and Michele Gallo (Italy). The most notable loser was triple Olympic champion Aron Szilyagi (Hungary) who went down to Fares Arfa (Canada) 15-8. He followed the up by beating Bolade Apithy (France) but would lose to Oh Sang-uk (South Korea) 15-13 after a late bout review. Another of the favourites was eliminated in the third round as Sandro Bazadze (Georgia) was beaten by Mohamed Amed (Egypt), a decision which led to him shouting at the umpire. Amed would then go down to Luigi Samele (Italy) 15-13. The other semi final would see Ziad El-Sissy (Egypt) coming up against Fares Ferjani (Tunisia) who had battled past his previous two opponents with scores of 15-14. In that semi final Ferjani opened up an 8-3 lead and it was soon 14-5. It took him a while to get over the line but he did make the final. Sang-uk meanwhile cruised through with a 15-5 win. He then went 14-5 up in the final only for Ferjani to close it up but eventually the Korean would take gold.
🥇Oh Sang-uk 🇰🇷
🥈Fares Ferjani 🇹🇳
🥉Luigi Samele 🇮🇹
I mentioned Sang-uk and Samele as the strongest Korean and Italian respectively but did not predict them. Ferjani was not on my radar. I did predict against Szilyagi, perhaps not as aggressively as I wanted, which turned out out to be correct
Men’s Team Sabre
The one shock in the opening round would come as Iran would beat United States. United States would lead for the majority of the tie but behind Ali Pakdaman’s impressive performance, they got the 45-44 win. South Korea and Hungary would make their way through to the final for a big matchup. In the final, South Korea would lead only for Szatmari to put Hungary 30-29. A shutout saw Korea then go back to 35-30 and although the lead was closed by Szilagyi, Korea won 45-41 for a third straight gold. France were ultimately dominant in the bronze medal matchup, winning 45-25 with Boladé Apithy retiring after the bout.
🥇South Korea 🇰🇷
🥈Hungary 🇭🇺
🥉France 🇫🇷
I had the final correct but went the wrong way for the winners.
Women’s Individual Epee
Vivian Kong (Hong Kong) would cruise her way through to the last four. She would come up against Nelli Differt(Estonia) who edged a few close contests without scoring 15 points, including when beating Alberta Santuccio (Italy). Reigning Olympic champion Sun Yiwen (China) was beaten by Miho Yoshimura (Japan) and it was Auriane Mallo (France) who would make the final four. The toughest section was probably the bottom and Eszter Muhari (Hungary) came through that. In the semis, Kong would trail Differt at halfway only to take a 15-11 win. Mallo would beat Muhari 15-9. Mallo went 7-1 up in the final and it seemed like it was only going one way, however Kong fought back to 12-12 to send the bout to extra time.
🥇Vivian Kong 🇭🇰
🥈Auriane Mallo 🇫🇷
🥉Eszter Muhari 🇭🇺
Kong would take gold as predicted. Neither Mallo nor Muhari was really on my radar.
Women’s Team Epee
Italy made things look easy on the way to the final. They beat Egypt 39-26 before turning it on against China with a 45-24 destruction. In the other half Poland would come back from 12-15 down to beat United States 31-29. They’d come against France in the semi final who upset the second seed South Korea team. Poland would keep it close but were unable to get the win over France in the semi final. The final was incredibly tense with Italy having to come from 15-19 down to tie the match at 29. It was Alberta Santuccio who scored the winning touch and sealed the gold for Italy.
🥇Italy 🇮🇹
🥈France 🇫🇷
🥉Poland 🇵🇱
Again, it was the correct final but it went the wrong way. I also got the bronze medal matchup right but again the wrong winner.
Women’s Individual Foil
This would come down to the strong American and Italian teams as five of the six competitors for those nations would make the quarter finals. They were joined by Anne Sauer (Germany), Eleanor Harvey (Canada) and Flora Pasztor (Hungary). Harvey came through a tough quarter that included Julia Walczyk (Poland) and Ysaora Thibus(France). She would trail Martina Favaretto (Italy), only to launch a massive comeback and win 15-14. Lauren Scruggs (United States) would get a big upset against Arianna Errigo (Italy) after being tied at 14-14. It initially looked like Errigo had won the point but was changed to give Scruggs the victory. In the semis she came up against Harvey who upset Favaretto after a slow start. Alice Volpi (Italy) would set up a semi final against Lee Kiefer(United States). Scruggs got the win over a seemingly tired Harvey and Kiefer would set up the All-American clash. Kiefer would dominate the final to win a second straight gold medal.
🥇Lee Kiefer 🇺🇸
🥈Lauren Scruggs 🇺🇸
🥉Eleanor Harvey 🇨🇦
Of the eight I mentioned as likeliest contenders, there were two medalists. Kiefer won her second straight gold medal.
Women’s Team Foil
The hope was for a big clash between the highly ranked Italy team and the United States who had taken a one-two in the individual competition. That would come to fruition. In the final, United States would build up a good lead for Lauren Scruggs, heading into the final round. The nerves were evident as Arriana Errigo cut the lead to three but Scruggs refocused and with three straight touches sealed a historic gold. In the bronze medal matchup, Canada and Japan were tied early only for Japan to pull away. Eleanor Harvey would lead a comeback in the final round but would come up short, losing 33-32. Canada had upset France 38-36, coming from behind in the opening round. Lee Kiefer inspired United States to do the same against Canada in the semi final.
🥇United States 🇺🇸
🥈Italy 🇮🇹
🥉Japan 🇯🇵
Italy and Japan both won medals but I thought United States would only come fourth. Perhaps underestimating Kiefer.
Women’s Individual Sabre
It was finally the day that France took a gold in the Grand Palais. Sara Balzer (France) would cruise through a relative soft top quarter. In the second quarter Anna Marton (Hungary) upset Lucia Martin-Portugues (Spain). She would be beat in the quarter final by Olga Kharlan (Ukraine) who made the semi final without an opponent scoring double figures. Theodora Gkountoura (Greece) battled her compatriot so hard to make the game and she started strongly with a win over Cecilia Berder (France). She came up against Manon Brunet (France) in the quarter finals and it was a controversial bout with some questionable referee decisions. The bottom quarter would see a big shock as Misaki Emura (Japan) lost to Choi Se-bin (South Korea) 15-7 and claimed to be nowhere near her best. The French pair were able to come through the semi-finals and set up an all-French final. Brunet would beat Balzer 15-12. In the bronze medal matchup Kharlan would rebound from 5-11 down to win 15-14.
🥇Manon Brunet 🇫🇷
🥈Sara Balzer 🇫🇷
🥉Olga Kharlan 🇺🇦
I perhaps went into the story narrative with Gkountoura. I mentioned Brunet as the best of the French competitors with Kharlan being a danger but going out before the medals were handed out.
Women’s Team Sabre
Japan got the tough Hungary draw but were able to go through 45-37. They would lose to Ukraine though in a 45-32 bout. They would go on to face South Korea who beat France. South Korea would lead through the majority of the final only for Kharlan to score five straight points to win 45-42. In the bronze medal matchup, there was numerous penalties for starting too late or too early as fencers struggled to hear over the raucous crowd. They would go back and forth taking the lead only for Japan to win 45-40.
🥇Ukraine 🇺🇦
🥈South Korea 🇰🇷
🥉Japan 🇯🇵
I underrated Ukraine here. I thought Japan and South Korea would both make the semi finals and they both went onto medal.
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