Men's Fencing Team Foil Final
Russians Put End to Poland's Golden Dreams
The Russian Federation put an emphatic cap on a splendid Olympic performance Thursday night by defeating Poland 45-40 to capture the gold medal in men's team foil at the Centennial Olympic Games. It was the fourth gold medal in six men's events that the Russians have claimed at these Games. Poland, which upset third-seeded Germany in the second round, took the silver after earning a bronze in Barcelona four years ago. The Russians led throughout most of the final, although Poland did take two brief leads at 28-26 and 30-28. Vladislav PAVLOVICH, Dmitriy SHEVCHENKO and Ilgar MAMEDOV all turned in strong performances for Russia, which had ousted top-seeded Cuba in the semfinals. Cuba earned the bronze medal by beating Austria.
Final Results: Gold - Russian Federation; Silver - Poland; Bronze - Cuba.
Italians Golden Again After Bumping Romania
Disappointment was the order of the day Monday for Italian fencers Giovanna TRILLINI and Valentina VEZZALI. The duo that had dominated the World Cup circuit this year settled for silver and bronze medals in the individual competition after each lost to Romania's Laura BADEA. But the tables were turned Thursday as TRILLINI and VEZZALI led the Italians to their second consecutive team gold medal by beating Romania 45-33 in the gold medal bout. With Francesca BORTOLOZZI BORELLA subbing for an injured Diana BIANCHEDI and getting the Italians off to a 4-0 lead in the first relay, Italy never trailed. Though BADEA fenced heroically and single-handedly kept Romania in the bout for a while -- cutting Italy's commanding lead to just 29-26 at the end of the sixth relay -- the Italians were determined not to let this gold slip through their fingers. They waited patiently, counterattacked brilliantly and struck with precision to put away the Romanians. The gold was the third for TRILLINI -- who won in both the individual and team events in Barcelona in 1992 -- and the first for VEZZALI and BORTOLOZZI BORELLA. In the bronze medal bout, Germany defeated Hungary 45-42.
Final Results: Gold - Italy; Silver - Romania; Bronze - Germany.
"It is simply a fantastic feeling,'' Italy's Valerie VEZZALI said. ``We have reached much more here than we ever expected. This gold medal has topped off some fantastic Olympic Games for us."
Italy, Romania To Renew Rivalry in Team Final
Laura BEDEA defeated both of Italy's top foil fencers in succession to capture the individual title earlier this week at the Centennial Olympic Games. Now BEDEA will try to lead her Romanian team to an upset of the top-seeded Hungarians in the gold medal match of the women's foil competition Friday afternoon at the Georgia World Congress Center. The Romanians defeated Russia (45-41) and Germany (45-33) to reach the finals. Aided by the return of Francesca BORTOLOZZI BORELLA, Italy crushed China (45-24) and got by Hungary (45-42). BORELLA missed the individual competition but will team with silver medalist and World Cup Champion Valentina VEZZALI and bronze medalist and world No. 1-ranked Giovanna TRILLINI. Hungary will face Germany in the bronze medal bout.
Gold Medal Bout: Romania vs. Italy; Bronze Medal Bout: Hungary vs. Germany. 5. France. 6. Russia. 7. China. 8. Poland. 9. Israel. 10. United States. 11. Argentina.
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| The Mother Nature was kind to Olympic athletes and spectators. The average high temperature during the Games was 89 degrees with an average low of 72 degrees. Highest temperature registered (20 July) - 99 degrees. Lowest high temperature registered is 79 degrees (28 July). |