Soren Thompson’s fantastic individual Olympic run has come to an end, with a 15-11 defeat by 2000 Olympic gold medallist Pavel Kolobkov of Russia. Kolobkov, Marcel Fischer of Switzerland, Eric Boisse of France and Lei Wang of China all advance to the semifinals this afternoon. In the round of 16, Thompson (San Diego, Calif.) shocked the world with a 15-13 upset of Alfredo Rota of Italy — the #1 ranked fencer in the world. Thompson should finish in 7th place – the 6th-highest men’s epee finish ever and highest in almost 50 years. The other two U.S. men’s epee fencers, Cody Mattern (Portland, Ore.) and Seth Kelsey (Brush Prairie, Wash.) finish 19th and 22nd, respectively. Mattern lost to #16 seeded Ivan Kovacs of Hungary 15-6 in the round of 32. Kelsey lost his bout in the round of 32 to Igor Tourchine (seeded #26) 15-11. Still to come: Women’s Saber Finals, featuring US medal contenders Sada Jacobson (Dunwoody, Ga.) and Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.). Check out
