Sabre Eldest Brother Revived Pride of Korean Fencing (Comprehensive)

Defeating Sandro Bazaj? for Bronze... Third Consecutive Olympic Medal
World No.1 Oh Sang-wook and Hope Raised Amid Women's ?p?e Struggles

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Jeong-hwan, the eldest member of the men's sabre fencing team representing the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, secured his third consecutive Olympic medal. On the 24th, at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, he defeated Sandro Bazadze of Georgia 15-11 in the men's sabre individual bronze medal match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Kim Jeong-hwan struggled in the first half, trailing 7-10, but gained momentum by scoring continuously through blocking and striking. At 11-11, he targeted his opponent's side to take the lead, and then showcased his signature 'foot fencing' to seal the victory.

Kim Jeong-hwan was a member of the men's team that won gold at the 2012 London Olympics. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, he earned a bronze medal in the individual event. With this bronze, he has won Olympic medals three times in a row?twice in individual events and once including team events. He is the first Korean fencer to achieve three consecutive Olympic medals.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This medal holds great significance as it restored the pride of Korean fencing. On the same day, in the men's sabre individual event, world number one Oh Sang-wook (Seongnam City Hall) and Koo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Foundation) faced bitter defeats in the quarterfinals and round of 32, respectively. In women's ?p?e, Choi In-jeong (Gyeryong City Hall) and Kang Young-mi (Seo-gu Office, Gwangju Metropolitan City) were eliminated in the round of 32, and Song Se-ra (Busan Metropolitan City Hall) exited in the round of 16, nearly leaving Korea without any medals on the first day of the competition. Kim Jeong-hwan will challenge for his fourth Olympic medal in the team event on the 28th.