Favorites Falter in Epee Excitement:
Excitement and unpredictability were
in abundant supply as the fencing competition at the Centennial
Olympic Games got under way Saturday morning at the Georgia World
Congress Center. When the dust finally settled, two former Olympic
gold medalists and the world's top-ranked fencer were left shaking
their heads in defeat as new stars shone on the Olympic stage.
Top-seeded Sandro CUOMO of Italy, 1992 Olympic champion Eric SRECKI
of France and 1988 Olympic champ Arnd SCHMITT of Germany were
each ousted in dramatic, tightly-contested bouts. The quarterfinal
defeat was particularly hard on the 33-year-old CUOMO, whose glistening
list of career accomplishments lacks only an Olympic gold medal.
The star of the morning was perhaps 21-year-old Geza
IMRE of Hungary. The youngest competitor in the field, IMRE upset
Peter VANKY of Sweden (15-14), Elmar BORRMANN of Germany (15-13)
and CUOMO (15-14) to reach the finals. SRECKI, Barcelona's gold
medalist in this event, fell to Russian Aleksandr BEKETOV (15-13)
in the third round. BEKETOV followed that upset by defeating 1992
bronze medalist Jean-Michel HENRY of France (15-13) to reach the
finals. Third-seeded Ivan KOVACS of Hungary is the highest-ranked
player to survive the opening rounds. KOVACS won a controversial
quarterfinal decision over Mariusz STRZALKA of Germany (15-13).
STRZALKA and the German coach each vigorously protested that KOVACS'
epee was scoring points on the electronic system without touching
STRZALKA's body target. Officials denied STRZALKA's protest and
KOVACS' victory was allowed to stand. Finalists: Ivan KOVACS
(HUN) vs. Aleksandr BEKETOV (RUS); Geza IMRE (HUN) vs. Kaido KAABERMA
(EST).
``It was disappointing for me, because this is probably
my last Olympics,'' said Italy's Sandro CUOMO, a four-time Olympian
and world's top-ranked epee fencer, after losing in men's epee
quarterfinals.
Beketov gives Russia first gold of Games: Aleksandr BEKETOV staged a dramatic comeback in the gold medal bout Saturday afternoon to defeat Cuba's Ivan Trevejo PEREZ (15-14) and earn Russia's first-ever Olympic gold medal in men's individual epee. The 26-year-old BEKETOV, who won his first and only World Cup Tournament title earlier this year trailed 11-6 in the final bout before earning the next 5 points to tie the score. The contest continued to see-saw until, with the score tied at 14-14, BEKETOV eluded a lunge by PEREZ and scored the decisive touch. In the semifinals, BEKETOV took advantage of an injury to third-seeded Ivan KOVACS to score a mild upset. With BEKETOV leading 13-8, KOVACS fell off the side of the piche and twisted his right ankle. KOVACS continued to fence after an injury timeout but his mobility was noticably limited and hindered his comeback hopes. KOVACS lost the bronze medal match to 21-year-old fellow countryman Geza IMRE. Gold: Aleksandr BEKETOV (RUS); Silver: Ivan TREVEJO PEREZ (CUB); Bronze: Geza IRME (HUN).
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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). |