U.S.’s Kiefer and France’s Cannone shock fencing world by winning Olympic gold
On Sunday, American fencer Lee Kiefer won her first Olympic gold medal in the women’s individual foil fencing competition by defeating the defending champion, Inna Deriglazova.
I. Deriglazova Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
After the competition, Kiefer said, “I have everything I could possibly want. To come out here and feel good about your fencing is what all the competitors aspire to accomplish and hope you get a medal at the end, so I have everything.”
As the top-ranked competitor and a two-time Olympian, Deriglazova was a prohibitive favourite to win the tournament and the gold medal.
Final score: Kiefer 1, Xavier 0. A tight battle throughout, with Kiefer holding a slim advantage.
At times, Deriglazova would attack with great intensity, pushing Kiefer to the edge of the piste, but Kiefer would fight back with decisive stabs, eliciting louder and louder shouts from her squad.
Kiefer yelled in delight after her victory and hugged her coach before sprinting to the stands to embrace her husband, fellow US foil fencer Gerek Meinhardt.
With the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, Deriglazova reflected on her third Olympic run and made it plain that she had not given up on winning a gold medal.
A silver medal is OK for now, she remarked, but “let’s hope that in the team competition we will be able to win gold.”
Another surprise winner was the 47th-ranked French fencer Romain Cannone, who defeated the first-ranked Hungarian Gergely Siklosi to win the gold.
In 2019, Siklosi had already accomplished his goal of winning the global title. Siklosi and Cannone both made their Olympic debuts at the Tokyo 2020 games.
A decisive moment came when both Cannone and Siklosi lunged, but only Cannone connected with Siklosi’s back.
Cannone took off his mask at the final moment and raised his arms in silence.
At a press conference following his victory, he told reporters, “I was truly thrilled for the journey and the competition, so I didn’t really know how to celebrate but simply felt this spirit of this happiness.”
I just didn’t have the want to yell. Because I was so engrossed in the present, it was unobtrusive and uncomplicated.
Conclusion
In response to his moment of reflection, his teammates raced onto the slope, surrounded him, and jumped up and down in joy before throwing him into the air as a team celebration. Thanks for read our I. Deriglazova Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
