The stands were shaking and the noise levels at the Fencing Hall well above most rock concerts as ZHONG Man of China scored 6 unanswered points to run away with the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Men’s Sabre competition. Nicolas Lopez (FRA) led by as many as two points, and was up 8-6 at the break, but unable to hold on as Zhong tied the match and then took control.
In the medal rounds, Zhong was treated to hometown crowds chanting "China Come Out" for their hero who earlier in the day had bested gold medal favorite Luigi Tarantino 15-13.
{sidebar id=1} The evening bouts started well for Zhong. In his first match against Julien Pillet (FRA), just about every close call went Zhong’s way as he leapt out to an 8-4 lead at the break. Pillet would not give up and battles back to tie the match 9-9. On the next point Pillet’s attack falls short and Zhong strikes a decisive head cut that puts him up for good. Pillet tries to put together a run with some long attacks but to no avail as Zhong closes it out 15-12.
In the gold medal bout Zhong matches up against another French sabrist, Nicolas Lopez. Lopez was the 27th seed and had already taken out former champion Stanislav Pozdniakov.
The two fencers traded touches and at 1-1 the crowd noise is so loud that the fencers cannot hear the referee, so he is miked and patched into the PA system. As the fencing commences Zhong pulls ahead 4-3. Lopez stalls a bit to tie his shoe and regains his composure. The two trade points en route to an 8-6 advantage for Lopez at the break.
The fencers trade touches and at 9-9 Zhong scores on an attack to take his first lead since 4-3. He would not lose another point and takes the gold medal 15-9.
Zhong attributes most of his success to coach Christian Bauer, who was hired by the Chinese team in 2006 to train them for the Olympics. Bauer coached the Italian men’s sabre team in the 2004 Olympic Games. This marks his second consecutive gold medal as a coach.
The bronze medal was won by 2000 Olympic champion Mihai Covaliu in a very entertaining match. The bout is a must watch just to see how Covaliu pulls distance and recovers to start his own attack. The match is close until 9-9 and then Covaliu pulls away to win the bronze 15-11.
The event was marked by a series of upsets as the top 6 seeds all exited early from competition.
Earlier in the day, US favorite Keeth Smart fell in the round of 8 to Julien Pillet (FRA) 15-13. Jason Rogers lost to Smart earlier in the day and Morehouse fell to Sanson (FRA).