First gold for Romania, double gold for Russia in final Rio fencing events

Their winning quartet of Ana Maria Popescu, Simona Pop, Simona Gherman and Loredana Dinu brought their nation a first medal in the event, which pits the top three or four fencers from each country against each other in a first-to-45 battle, or until the time runs out.

It was also Romania’s second Olympic title in women’s fencing after a gold medal in the women’s individual foil event in 1996.

China, anchored by world number three Anqi Xu, completes its medal set after winning gold in London and bronze in Sydney, with the silver medal being China’s 500th medal in Olympic history in any sport. The other silver medallists were and Yujie Sun, Yiwen Sun and Jialu Hao, the bronze medallist in the individual event.

World number three team Russia won the bronze with a 37-31 victory over Estonia. Violetta Kolobeva gained the last touch they needed to secure the two-time champion’s fourth medal in the event since it was introduced at Atlanta 1996.

The other bronze medalists were Olga Kochneva, Lyubov Shutova, and Tatiana Logunova, who won the Rio Grand Prix at the same venue in April.

In the Women’s team sabre, Russia won a fourth Olympic fencing gold medal with a 45-30 victory over Ukraine in the final.

Russia’s trio of Yana Egorian, Yuliya Garvilova and Sofya Velikaya established an early lead and extended it to a full 15 points by the time Velikaya got the final touch.

It was a second gold medal of the Games for Egorian, who beat London 2012 silver medallist Velikaya in an all-Russian individual final.

With the victory, Russia equals its gold medal haul of four from the Atlanta Games.
Ukraine anchor Olga Kharlan, meanwhile, adds a silver to the bronze she won in the individual event. The other runners-up were Alina Komashchuk, Olena Kravatska and Olena Voronina.

The American quartet of Ibtihaj Muhammad, Dagmara Wozniak, Mariel Zagunis and Monica Askamit took the bronze medal with a 45-30 victory over Italy in the match for third place. It was a fourth medal of the Games for the United States, which now boasts two silver and two bronze.

Russia also enjoyed success in the men’s team foil, taking the gold medal thanks to a 45-41 defeat of France.

The Russian trio of Artur Akhmatkhuzin, Alexey Cheremisinov and Timur Safin were trailing in the final until bout seven of nine, when Akhmatkhuzin turned it around with a 10-3 victory over France’s Jean-Paul Tony Helissey.

The victory was Russia’s first victory in the event in 20 years and earned them a sixth fencing medal of the Games, with a second for Safin, who won bronze in the individual event.

France, also represented by Erwan Le Pechoux, Enzo Lefort and Jeremy Cadot, claimed a second fencing medal of the Olympics after Gauther Grumier’s bronze in the men’s individual epee.

The bronze medal went to USA after they beat Italy 45-30 in the third-place playoff. Alexander Massialas added to the silver in the individual event, along with teammates Gerek Meinhardt, Miles Chamley-Watson and Race Imboden.

There was better news for France in the men’s team epee as they rounded off the Rio 2016 Olympic fencing competitions in style by winning the gold medal.

Daniel Jerent, Yannick Borel, and Jean-Michel Lucenay beat Italy 45-30 to earn the French their first fencing gold medal of the Games. It also meant a second medal for Gauthier Grumier, who won bronze in the individual event. Grumier did not appear in the final but still earns a medal due to his participation in earlier rounds.

For the Italian quartet of Enrico Garozzo, Marco Fichera, Paolo Pizzo and Andrea Santarelli, it brought their country a third fencing medal of the Games.

Men’s epee individual champion Geza Imre of Hungary claimed a second medal of the Games as he helped his country to the bronze in the match for third place.

Imre, Andras Redli, Gabor Boczko and Peter Somfai beat Ukraine by the narrow margin of 39-37 for their country’s fourth medal at the Rio games.