Fencing 2024 Paris Olympic Review
- Cain Bradley
- Aug 12, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Nov 26
Men’s Individual Epee
The top quarter was left wide open as Mate Tamas Koch (Hungary) was beaten in round one by Grabiel Lugo (Venezuela). It was Timor Andrafsi (Hungary) who made his way through, pulling off a number of upsets to make the semi-final where he came up against Koki Kano (Japan). THe bottom quarter saw another top Hungarian seed defeated, as Gergely Siklosi (Hungary) lost to Jakub Jurka (Czechia). This opened the door for 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 cruised through in his semi, whilst Kano edged 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 fell in a shock opening round defeat to Czechia. Hungary controlled France throughout the whole bout and made the final with a 45-30 victory. Czechia went ahead of Japan in the final rally of the other semi final, only to be defeated 45-37. The final was a low-scoring contest that went to sudden death where Gergely Siklosi (Hungary) scored the winning point, fourteen seconds into overtime, against Koki Kano (Japan) to win 26-25. France were not able to hang onto bronze despite a four point lead 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
In the top quarter, Maxime Pauty (France) stunned Tommaso Marini (Italy) 15-14 despite trailling 10-2. He fell by the same score to Kazuki Ilmura (Japan) who also eliminated Alexander Massialas (United States). The second quarter featured a clash between Enzo Lefort (France) and Cheung Ka-long (Hong Kong). Lefort led 14-13, but Ka-long scored two decisive points to make the semi final. Filippo Macchi (Italy) upset Kysouke Matsuyama (Japan) and Mohamed Hamza (Egypt) to reach the semi finals, where he met Nick Itkin (United States) who also had to come through a 15-14 battle. Ka-long and Macchi advanced comfortably in the semi-finals. The final was tied at 10-10 with Macchi surging to 13. Ka-long fought back to 14-14, where match point was replayed twice before Ka-long took 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
The expected big four advanced from the quarter-finals. In the semis, Japan beat France 45-37 while, Italy beat United States 45-38. Enzo Lefort (France) changed the course of the bronze medal matchup to help France win bronze. In the final, Japan led for the majority of the bout. They had an edge at 35-34, but Yudai Nagano (Japan) 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 were particularly notable 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 biggest upset was the defeat of triple Olympic champion Aron Szilyagi (Hungary) who was eliminated by Fares Arfa (Canada) 15-8. Arfa followed that up by beating Bolade Apithy (France) but lost to Oh Sang-uk (South Korea) 15-13 after a late bout review. Another favourite, Sandro Bazadze (Georgia), exited in round three after a fiery defeat to Mohamed Amed (Egypt), a decision which led to him shouting at the umpire. Amed's run ended against Luigi Samele (Italy) 15-13. The semi final saw Ziad El-Sissy (Egypt) face Fares Ferjani (Tunisia) who had battled past his previous two opponents with scores of 15-14. 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. In the final, Sang-uk went 14-5 up, only for Ferjani to rally 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 opening round delivered one shock as Iran beat the United States who had led for the majority of the bout, but behind the impressive performance of Ali Pakdaman (Iran), they got the 45-44 win. South Korea and Hungary made their way through to the final for a blockbuster final. South Korea led early but Andras Szatmari (Hungary) put Hungary 30-29 ahead. A shutout saw Korea take a 35-30 lead and although the lead was closed by Aron Szilagyi (Hungary), Korea won 45-41 for a third straight gold. France were dominant in the bronze medal matchup, winning 45-25 with Boladé Apithy (France) 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) cruised her way through to the last four where she faced 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) while Auriane Mallo (France) made her way through to the final four. The toughest quarter was probably the bottom and Eszter Muhari (Hungary) battled through. In the semis, Kong trailled Differt at halfway but rallied for a 15-11 win. Mallo defeated Muhari 15-9 to make the final. Mallo took a 7-1 lead 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 where she won gold.
🥇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 their 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 staged a comeback from 12-15 down to beat the United States 31-29. They faced France in the semi final, who upset the second-seeded South Korea. Poland kept it close but were unable to get the win over France in the semi final. The final was incredibly tense with Italy trailling 15-19 before tying the match at 29. It was Alberta Santuccio (Italy) 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 event was dominated by the powerhouse American and Italian teams, with five of their six fencers reaching the quarter-finals. They were joined by Anne Sauer (Germany), Eleanor Harvey (Canada) and Flora Pasztor (Hungary). Harvey came through a tough section featuring Julia Walczyk (Poland) and Ysaora Thibus (France). She trailed Martina Favaretto (Italy), only to launch a massive comeback and win 15-14. Lauren Scruggs (United States) delivered arguably the biggest shock, upsetting Arianna Errigo (Italy) after being tied at 14-14 and the winning point was initially given to Errigo before being overturned. In the semi, Scruggs faced Harvey, who had upset Favaretto despite a slow start. Alice Volpi (Italy) set up a semi final against Lee Kiefer (United States). In the semis, Scruggs got the win over a tiring Harvey and Kiefer 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 showdown 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 built up a good lead for Lauren Scruggs (United States), heading into the final round. The nerves were evident as Arriana Errigo (Italy) 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 level early only for Japan to pull away. Eleanor Harvey (Canada) led a comeback in the final round but came up short, losing 33-32. Canada had upset France 38-36, coming from behind in the opening round. Lee Kiefer (United States) 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) cruised through a relatively soft top quarter. In the second quarter, Anna Marton (Hungary) upset Lucia Martin-Portugues (Spain) before falling to Olga Kharlan (Ukraine) who reahed the semi final without conceding double digits. Theodora Gkountoura (Greece) had battled so hard with her compatriot to make the Olympics, and started strongly with a victory over Cecilia Berder (France). She came up against Manon Brunet (France) in the quarter finals and it was a controversial bout with many disputed refereeing decisions, as Brunet advanced. The bottom quarter delivered a big shock as Misaki Emura (Japan) lost to Choi Se-bin (South Korea) 15-7, later admitting she was 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 survived a tough opening clash with Hungary but progressed with a 45-37 win, before losing to Ukraine in a 45-32 bout. They went on to face South Korea who beat France. South Korea led for 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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