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Olympic Fencing Recaps - 23 July (Day 4)

Men's Fencing Team Epee Finals

Italy Holds Off Russian Charge to Capture Epee Gold:

Four-time Olympian Angelo MAZZONI held off a dramatic comeback attempt by Aleksandr BEKETOV of the Russian Federation to capture a 45-43 victory in the gold medal match of men's team epee competition Monday at the Centennial Olympic Games. Italy, which had won a sudden-death victory over defending Olympic champion Germany in the semifinals, led comfortably throughout the final and held a 40-35 lead when MAZZONI stepped on the piste to face BEKETOV, the gold medalist in the individual event last Saturday. Despite the formidable deficit facing him, BEKETOV went on the attack immediately and cut the Italian's lead to just 44-43 with six seconds remaining in the final bout. With the large lead on the verge of evaporating, things got even worse for MAZZONI when he was cut above the eye when his mask was inadvertently shoved against his face and had to receive medical attention. But when trainers stopped the bleeding on his face, MAZZONI stopped the bleeding on the scoreboard. He was able to escape a lunge by the Russian and touch him on the torso to claim Italy's first team epee gold since 1960. France, led by four-time Olympian Jean-Michel Henry, captured the bronze medal by besting Germany 45-42. Gold: Italy. Silver: Russian Federation. Bronze: France.

"I was never afraid of losing," said Italy's Angelo MAZZONI. "I knew I had to be patient and wait for the right moment to score and for my opponent's mistakes. I knew he had to take some very great risks since we were always in the lead. He had to attack, and I had to wait."


Men's Fencing Team Epee Preliminaries

Cuomo Lifts Italy into Final With Sudden Death Touch:

Four-time Olympian Sandro CUOMO won a sudden-death duel with 1992 Olympic champion Arnd SCMITT to lift Italy to a 45-44 victory over defending champion Germany and earn the Italians a spot in Tuesday's gold medal bout at the Centennial Olympic Games. CUOMO, the number one ranked epee fencer in the world, had suffered a disappointing third-round loss to unheralded Hungarian Geza IMRE in the individual event, but was embraced in joy by his teammates and coaches after the winning touch. A see-saw bout ended in a 42-42 tie (rounded to 44-44 under FIE rules) and Italy won the coin toss which resolves bouts tied after sudden death. By losing the coin toss, SCMITT had to attack and backed CUOMO to the corner of the piste and looked to close in for victory. Twice CUOMO tripped and fell off the side of the piste to avoid SCHMITT's weapon and stay alive. As the bout resumed with the German holding the advantage, CUOMO sidestepped SCHMITT's thrust, lunged at his competitor and touched him on his side to claim the victory. Italy, in search of its first Olympic team epee gold medal since the Rome Games in 1960, will meet the Russian Federation in Tuesday afternoon's final after the Russians beat France 45-42 in a closely-matched semifinal. Individual epee gold medalist Aleksandr BEKETOV led the way for the Russians, who also got strong efforts from Pavel KOLOBKOV and Valeriy ZAKHAREVICH. Gold Medal Bout: ITALY vs. RUSSIAN FEDERATION; Bronze Medal Bout: GERMANY vs. FRANCE. Other results: 5. Estonia 6. Hungary 7. Spain 8. United States 9. Canada 10. Korea 11. Romania.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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