Individual, Men

Reigning Olympic champion Joe Choong had won World Championship gold in 2022 and 2023, but failed to reach the final when the 2024 World title was decided in favor of Hungary’s Csaba Bőhm, eight weeks before the Olympics.

The round-robin fencing phase, held the day before the semi-finals but counting for both the semi-finals and final, proved surprisingly influential. Choong’s performance fell flat while that of Tokyo silver medalist Ahmed El-Gendy was outstanding. Choong only narrowly reached the final and could never recover to challenge for a medal, whilst the Egyptian went from strength to strength to eventually become the first African Olympic champion. El-Gendy extended his lead in both the swimming and riding sections so he could afford to take things relatively leisurely in the laser run. His was the only Olympic title won by an Egyptian at the 2024 Paris Games.

Another memorable moment was provided by the silver medalist Taishu Sato, who was the first Japanese Olympic medalist in the 112-year history of the sport. He had been sanctioned by the UIPM by wearing a T-shirt with the words “Keep Riding & Change the Rules” at a World Cup event in 2022. In the laser run, Sato just held off the fast finishing Giorgio Malan of Italy, with Emiliano Hernández just missing out of the podium positions.