Olympics fencing results, August 7: Men’s individual foils
Men’s individual foil fencing comes to an exhilarating finale as Italian Daniele Garozzo defeats American Alexander Massialas for the gold medal.
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MEDAL RESULT | Men's Individual Foil Fencing
The pressure was on Team USA in the men’s individual foil fencing match at Carioca Arena this morning. The field of 64 was narrowed down, and American Gerek Meinhardt was knocked out in the quarterfinals, leaving the No. 1 ranked Alexander Massialas in the hunt for a medal. The United States has not brought home a gold medal in fencing in over a hundred years, adding just a little pressure to the men’s team.
Massialas was able to hang on through the quarterfinals to meet Great Britain’s Richard Kruse, who was also looking to bring a medal home to the UK to end a drought. Massialas, whose coach is also his father, was able to fight back and retain control of the match, defeating Kruse 15-9. Kruse went on to the bronze medal bout, where he lost to Russia’s Timur Safin 15-13.
Italy’s Daniele Garozzo, ranked 11th in the world, defeated Safin in the semifinals to ensure his place in the gold medal bout, where he met Massialas. Garozzo came out strong to start, racking up an early lead. Near the end of the match, Garozzo was up 14-8 when Massialas was able to take advantage of several failed touches, bringing the score within three, but Massialas was not able to get ahead. He lost to Garozzo 15-11.
The United States has been in a medal drought since 1984, which was the last time a medal was won in fencing. Massialas is the first silver medalist for the US since 1960. Massialas will be back to compete for a chance at a Team USA team medal in foils.
Olympics fencing returns to action on Monday with women’s individual sabres beginning at 2am.