Japan becomes first non-European nation to win men’s foil team gold

The Japanese men’s foil team made history on Sunday, becoming the first non-European nation to reach the podium in the sport. They beat Italy 45-36 in the final to win the country’s second gold medal in fencing in France and its fifth medal overall. That’s more medals than the country had won in its entire Olympic fencing history before the Paris Games.

The final didn’t start to get intense until the last few rounds. IimuraTakahiro Shigen and Kyosuke Matsuyama gaverage After the first three innings, Japan had a slight advantage. Italy fought back in the fourth and fifth innings, and Japan regained the lead in the sixth inning. Driven by the outstanding performance of substitute player Nagano Yudai, the Asian team finally pulled away in the eighth inning. Iimura Then led the team over the line and scored the last goal of the match against Tommaso Marini.

Japanese Men’s Foil Team Comments

“My teammates passed the baton to me and I felt I had to complete the task. We drew strength from the fans in Paris and the people back home cheering us on late into the night,” Iimura.

“Honestly, this is like a dream., I still can’t believe it, but I think our patient work has paid off,” Nagano added.

“I believe we have the ability to win the gold medal. We are under pressure to win a team medal for the third consecutive day., I was really happy that we were able to get it,” Shikine recalled.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, it’s been tough physically and mentally., But no one tried to hide from reality, and today’s result showed that. I’m proud of all of us,” commented Matsuyama.

Other medalists for Japan this weekend

Japan’s women’s saber team won bronze on Saturday, defeating host France. Ukraine won gold, defeating South Korea in the final. Japan’s mixed judo team lost controversially to France in the final and settled for silver.

The other three medals won by Japan this weekend were all bronze. In the men’s golf championship, Hideki Matsuyama led for much of the tournament but ultimately fell behind Scottie Scheffler of the United States and Tommy Fleetwood of Britain. In women’s table tennis, Hina Hayata defeated South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin in the bronze medal match. Meanwhile, Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama defeated the Malaysian duo of Perri Chan and Tina Muralitharan in the women’s doubles bronze medal match in badminton.

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