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Brice Guyart of France solved the Italian marching attack and won the gold medal by defeating Salvatore Sanzo 15-13 in the gold medal bout at the Athens Olympics.
Sanzo had led for the entire bout until 12-11
This is Guyart’s second gold medal – he won the gold medal in the team foil event in Sydney.
The bout was more physical than most fencing matches, with Guyart receiving 2 penalties for contact with his opponent.
If defeat, Sanzo was critical of the referee. “I am disappointed with the referee,” Sanzo said. “He made at least three very serious mistakes. I won the silver medal, but I can’t be satisfied because I have won everything in my career except the gold medal in the Olympic Games.”
Guyart also defeated Sanzo’s teammate – Andrea Cassara in the semifinal match. Cassara went on to defeat Ganeev of Russia for the bronze medal.
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Cassara (left) vs. Ganeev in the bronze medal bout.
Photo courtesy Serge Timacheff/FencingPhotos.com
Among US fencers, Dan Kellner (Warren, N.J.) came one touch short of reaching the quarterfinals after holding the lead at 14-12 but was nipped in sudden death by Richard Kruse of Great Britain by the score of 15-14 in the round of 16. Kellner, going into the competition seeded 26th, upset Cedric Gohy of Belgium (the #7 seed) 15-12 in the round of 32.
Jon Tiomkin (Hewlett, N.Y.) faced an exceptionally tough seed in the round of 32: Andrea Cassara of Italy, the #1 seed. He lost 15-3. Earlier, in the round of 64, he had defeated Maher Ben Aziza of Tunesia 15-10.
Jed Dupree (Bethlehem, Pa.) lost his first bout in the round of 64 to Sofiane El Azizi of Algeria 15-14.
