Foil, Team, Men

Russia’s men’s foil team, comprising Aleksey Cheremisinov, Artur Akhmatkhuzin and individual bronze medalist Timur Safin defeated France in the final 45-41. On their road to victory, the team had to fight three close matches against Britain, the United States and finally France. After trailing France in the first seven periods by up to nine points at one point, the Russians came back with a last minute surge of Akhmatkhuzin and Cheremisinov outscoring French substitute Jean-Paul Tony Helissey and Erwann Le Péchoux 15-6 to take gold..

The US team, led by their top fencers Alexander Massialas, the individual silver medalist, and Gerek Meinhardt had to take consolation in comfortably winning the bronze medal contest against Italy, the defending world and Olympic champions, 45-31, to win the country’s first medal in the men’s team foil since 1932. After trailing Italy in the first periods, the US came back when Meinhardt easily beat Andrea Baldini 8-0 for a 25-20 lead. This bout started an American 18-2 rally. Substitute Race Imboden and Massialas closed the match with five points each.