Olympic Fencing 2016: Medal Winners and Scores After Sunday's Results
Italy's Daniele Garozzo beat the United States' Alexander Massialas 15-11 to take the gold medal in the 2016 Olympic fencing men's individual foil final in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
The world No. 1 was unable to match his opponent, with the 24-year-old European building an early six-touch advantage before holding on for the victory in spite of a late surge.
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The gold-medal clash saw underdog Garozzo face off against the favoured Massialas. After racing to an early lead, the Olympic debutant was forced to hold off a brave barrage before clinching the final point with a typically assured touch onto Massialas' upper shoulder. Ranked at No. 11 ahead of the Games, the Italian was a surprise victor and medal winner.
In the bronze-medal match, Great Britain's 42-year wait for a men's fencing medal continued, as Russia's Timur Safin secured a close-fought 15-13 victory over Richard Kruse.
In the evening's earlier contest, Kruse—the more methodical fencer of the bronze-match pairing—almost produced a stunning comeback victory in what would have been Team GB's first medal win in the men's individual event since Bill Hoskins' triumph at the 1964 Tokyo Games, per Ian Prior of the Guardian.
The Brit came from down 12-5 to move to within two points of victory at Rio's Olympic Park before Safin finally crossed the 15-point barrier to claim the final spot on the rostrum. The Olympics' official Twitter account posted a graphic of the updated standings:
Featuring in his fourth Olympics, Kruse will now turn his attention toward the team event.
"I didn't get the rub of the green (with decisions), but I wanted a best-ever result and I did that," he said, per Mark Staniforth of the Daily Mirror. "If some of the decisions had gone the other way it could have been different. There is a better chance of a medal in the team event. It would be massive for our sport in Britain."
Olympic athlete Laurence Halsted felt there was little between the fencers heading into the last four on Sunday, as British Fencing relayed on Twitter:
The aesthetics of the event continued to impress neutral fans, with the BBC's Mark Chapman enjoying the spectacle:
Meanwhile, DW Sports provided some of the highlights from the day's action:
In the semi-final bouts, Garozzo and Safin began the final-four exchange, with the 11th- and 12th-ranked fencers inseparable at the halfway point of their contest in the first period.
However, the Italian proved to be the more inventive and quick-witted of the two competitors, as he scored six unreturned touches to secure his place in the final showdown with a 15-8 victory.
In the second clash, world No. 1 Massialas continued his fine form from his quarter-final bout with Italy's Giorgio Avola to secure a victory over Kruse.
Per USA Today, the American was the favourite to win the title after taking a year off from Stanford University to train for the Olympics. He made that time pay off in the second semi-final of the day, demonstrating catlike reflexes and supreme lightness and delicacy.
With the clash tied at 4-4, Massialas zoned in on the prize to score four unanswered touches before the break, eventually running out a 15-9 victory to advance to the final in a hyper-aggressive bout.
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