Men's Sabre Fencing, Olympic Team Event Back-to-Back Victory Achievement (Summary)

Italy Defeats 45-26 in Team Event Final

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The men's sabre fencing team, boasting the world No. 1 ranking, clinched the gold medal in the team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Composed of Oh Sang-wook (25, Seongnam City Hall), Gu Bon-gil (32), Kim Jung-hwan (38, both from the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation), and Kim Jun-ho (27, Hwaseong City Hall), the men's sabre team defeated Italy 45-26 in the final of the men's sabre team event held on the 28th at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

The team, which won gold at the 2012 London Games, thus achieved back-to-back Olympic gold medals over nine years. The men's sabre team event was not held at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games due to event rotation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The team boasts world-class skills. From 2017 to 2019, they achieved three consecutive wins in the team event at the World Championships. They are also ranked No. 1 in the world. The team overwhelmed Italy from the start, as if to prove this. The player who took the lead was the second fencer, Oh Sang-wook. With a narrow 5-4 lead, he pressured Aldo Montano with his characteristic long lunge move. He scored 5 points without conceding any.

Gu Bon-gil continued the momentum against Enrico Berr?, extending the lead to 15-6. Kim Jung-hwan, who took over the baton, dominated Montano and widened the gap to 13 points (20-7). Even the substitute Kim Jun-ho, who entered as the eighth fencer replacing Kim Jung-hwan, showed remarkable skills, securing the championship early.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This gold medal is the third for the fencing team. Previously, Kim Jung-hwan won bronze in the men's sabre individual event, and the women's ?p?e team earned silver in the team event.