After concluding the individual competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a gold medal, Korea Fencing is aiming for a team medal in all three events it competed in at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
South Korean fencing wrapped up the individual fencing competition at the Paris Olympics at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on Tuesday (Sept. 30) with a gold medal for men’s sabre Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall).
This was a better individual performance for Korea than at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, when Kim Jung-hwan won bronze in men’s sabre.
It was also the first individual gold medal for South Korea in eight years since Park Sang-young in men’s epee at Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Elsewhere, women’s sabre’s Choi Se-bin (Jeonnam-do) nearly claimed a ‘surprise medal’ after reaching the top four of the individual competition, but had to settle for fourth place after losing back-to-back semifinal and bronze medal matches.
In the women’s epée, which was expected to produce an individual medalist alongside the men’s sabre, Song Sera (Busan Metropolitan Government) was the best result, reaching the round of 16.
Kim Jae-won (Gwangju Seo-gu Office) in men’s épée and Ha Tae-kyu (Chungnam Sports Association) in men’s foil were eliminated in the round of 32 in their first matches.
Now, in the team competition, which will continue on the 30th, Korea will aim for podium finishes in all the events they qualified for.
At the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, Korea brought home medals in men’s sabre (gold), women’s epee (silver), and women’s sabre and men’s epee (bronze), all of which qualified for the team competition.
The team qualified for the team competition in three events, including men’s and women’s sabre and women’s epée.
The women’s epée team, consisting of Song Sera, Lee Hye-in (Gangwon-do), Kang Young-mi (Gwangju Seo-gu Office), and Choi In-jung (Gyeryong City Hall), will compete in the team event on Tuesday, hoping to shake off the disappointment of their silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and go for gold.
They will face hosts France in the quarterfinals in their first match.
On the 31st, the men’s sabre team, ranked No. 1 in the world, will try to win their third consecutive Olympic team title after London 2012 and Tokyo (Rio 2016 is not included in the rotation).
In particular, Oh Sang-wook, the individual men’s sabre champion, could become the first Korean fencer to win a “double” if he also contributes to the team gold medal.
Korea’s previous Olympic gold medalists – Kim Young-ho in men’s foil in Sydney 2000, Kim Ji-yeon in women’s sabre in London, and Park Sang-young in Rio – failed to win the team event, giving Oh the chance to make history.
The men’s sabre team of Oh Sang-wook, Koo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Organization), Park Sang-won (Daejeon Metropolitan Government) and Do Kyung-dong (Armed Forces Athletic Corps) will face Canada in the quarterfinals, their first match of the tournament.
On August 3, the women’s sabre team of Yoon Ji-su, Jeon Ha-young (Seoul Metropolitan Government), Choi Se-bin, and Jeon Eun-hye (Incheon Jung-gu Office) will compete in their final match of the Games.
The women’s sabre team will begin their quest for a team medal in the quarterfinals against the United States. 토토사이트 순위
