Egyptian Fencer Mohamed El-Sayed secured Egypt’s inaugural medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics by capturing the bronze in the Men’s Epee Individual event.
El-Sayed’s remarkable achievement occurred as a result of his victory over Tibor Andrasfi of Hungary in a tightly contested match, ultimately concluding with a score of 8-7 in overtime.
The recent achievement represents a significant milestone for Egypt, marking the nation’s second medal in fencing, following Alaa Aboulkassem’s silver in the London 2012 Olympics.
According to Egyptian Gazette the 21-year-old athlete commenced his journey with a decisive 15-7 victory over Colombian fencer Jhon Rodríguez, followed by a 15-10 win over Italy’s Santarelli and a 9-8 triumph over Belgium’s Neisser Loyola in the quarterfinals.
Although El-Sayed faced a defeat in the semi-final against the world number three Yannick Borel with a score of 15-9, he demonstrated resilience and determination in the play-off against Andrasfi.
This year, Egypt has assembled its largest-ever team for the Games in Paris, comprising 149 competitors. Additionally, in the realm of foil fencing, Lee Kiefer secured consecutive gold medals, while her teammate Lauren Scruggs made history as the first Black fencer from the United States to win an Olympic medal in an individual women’s event, earning the silver.
The atmosphere in the expansive Grand Palais, filled with enthusiastic spectators, stands in stark contrast to the serene and vacant venue in Chiba, Japan, where Kiefer clinched her first Olympic gold three years ago amidst pandemic-related restrictions.
Kiefer’s gold medal signifies the fifth individual event gold for a US fencer of all time. She now joins Mariel Zagunis as the only American fencers to achieve gold in the same event twice, following Zagunis’s victories in 2004 and 2008.
The most recent occurrence of an all-US final in an Olympic fencing event was in 2008, when Zagunis emerged victorious over Sada Jacobson in saber, leading to an American podium sweep.
Prior to this, the last instance was in 1904. Reflecting on her performance, Scruggs expressed, “I’m more happy than disappointed. It was shocking for me to be here in the first place, so I don’t even think I’ve had time to process losing, if I’m honest. It’s just shocking, and I’m super grateful.”
