Celebrate an extraordinary moment in sports as Japan clinches gold in the men’s foil team event!
For the first time, Japan won gold in the men’s foil team event! A moment we all have been waiting for…
Takahiro Shikine opened the scoring against Italy’s Tommaso Marini, and Kazuki Iimura, who finished fourth in Monday’s Individual event, delivered the final touches in a 45-36 win.
It was Japan’s fifth fencing medal in Paris and its eighth medal overall in Olympic fencing.
The world’s No. 1-ranked team of Kazuki Iimura, Kyosuke Matsuyama, Takahiro Shikine, and substitute Yudai Nagano joined Koki Kano have succeded in winning fencing gold medals for Japan at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Takahiro Shikine set the pace, while Kazuki Iimura fetched the win with seven decisive touches against silver medallist Filippo Macchi.
Japan finished with a silver medal in the same event during the London Games back in 2012.
Coaches Erwann Le Pechoux and Franck Boidin of France, handling Japan’s foil coaches, said earlier in the day that the country had a successful strategy to foster fencing talents by bringing in expertise from abroad in recent years.
Japan had won three medals in fencing before the Paris Olympics.
“It’s been physically and mentally hard for us with many ups and downs but nobody tried to escape from reality and that is reflected in the result today,” Matsuyama commented on their hard work.
Don’t miss out on the highlights of this remarkable fencing showdown!
The about was tight, with Japan ahead first and then Italy until Iimura scored seven decisive touches against Filippo Macchi, the silver medallist in the individual event. Then substitute Yudai Nagano—who fenced a flawless round—scored five touches against Italy’s Alessio Foconi, securing a six-touch advantage for Japan.
By winning this, the final fencing gold of the games, Japan has made history as the very first non-European or Russian team ever to take the event at an Olympics.
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