Italian women swept the Olympic medals in foil on Saturday, but crowned a new queen in Elisa Di Francisca, who clawed her way back in the waning seconds of regulation to land the final touch in sudden death overtime against teammate Arianna Errigo.
Valentina Vezzali, Italy’s reigning world champion, muscled past South Korea’s Nam Hyun-hee to win bronze at London’s Excel Centre.
In an amazing display of discipline and focus she snatched the 13-12 victory from a seemingly insurmountable deficit that had the world’s greatest female foilist seconds from defeat, down by four points, only to come back and win.
Photo: EPA
It was some consolation for Vezzali, who had been chasing her fourth consecutive individual Olympic gold medal after carrying the flag for her nation into the Olympic Stadium the night before.
The 38-year-old has now won 29 Olympic and world championship medals, and has her sights on the record of 39 set by countryman Edoardo Mangiarotti, who died in May aged 93. He won 13 Olympic medals between 1936 and 1960.
Errigo had defeated Vezzali in the semi-finals to face Di Francisca, who took silver in last year’s worlds after finishing first in 2010.
“I was afraid of winning,” Di Francisca said. “I did not fence very well, but I maintained good control. [Errigo] is very strong and I am born a tiger, but had to put that under control.”
Di Francisca won the bout 12-11 in sudden-death overtime after three minutes of the third period had elapsed.
Errigo had pulled ahead 11-8 with 36 seconds to go in regulation.
While she kept control, Di Francisca did let the tiger slip its leash, making a series of direct attacks to take what is called the “right of way” in fencing, landing her touches, or points, on the valid target, which is the torso.
First-time Olympian Lee Kiefer of the US came fifth, the best finish for the Americans in women’s foil since 1996.
Kiefer, who took third in last year’s worlds, is the youngest member of the US fencing team at just 18 years and she is off to Notre Dame in the fall to start college.
Earlier, Errigo ended Vezzali’s quest for a record fourth gold, after what is already an unprecedented three straight golds plus a silver in her first Olympiad in Atlanta, Georgia.
Their semi-final bout, filled with strategic footwork, shaking fists and primal screams, demonstrated the attacking style of Errigo against Vezzali’s calculated steps and counterattacking technique.
Errigo, contesting her first Olympics, won silver and bronze in the 2010 and 2009 world championships respectively.
However, on winning silver in her first Olympics, Errigo said she was not happy.
“My dream is the gold medal. Yes I am young, but I am sad. To have silver on just one point, it is not nice,” she said.
Errigo added that she changed her tactics from attacking earlier in the day, which led to quick victories, to patience and counterattack in the hope that her opponent would miss.
“It is better not to attack her [Di Francisca],” she said.
After a mostly sleepless night fueled by adrenaline, a drained Vezzali said: “I won the bronze medal for the people of Italy. The people gave me energy in the stadium and this last match, for me, was a miracle match.”
It was a bitter pill for Nam, seeded No. 1 coming into the competition, as she lost to Vezzali in Beijing to take silver and was shut out of a medals again by the Italian.
Ever the competitor, Vezzali said there was a problem [in only winning bronze] that she wanted to resolve in 2016, laying down the gauntlet to all that she is still a force to reckon with as she eyes her sixth Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I am not surprised she said that,” Di Francisca said. “Fencing is her life.”
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
Luka Doncic on Monday produced a 46-point masterpiece as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Chicago Bulls’ four-game winning streak with a 129-118 victory on the road. Doncic rattled in eight three-pointers on 15-of-25 shooting from the field, finishing with seven rebounds and 11 assists to lead an impressive Lakers effort at the United Center. LeBron James chipped in with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Rui Hachimura delivered an eye-catching cameo off the bench with 23 points from nine-of-11 shooting. The win was another encouraging result for the Lakers after a 116-110 defeat of the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. “We did
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo on Friday said that he will probably be out for an extended period after hurting his right calf again after a similar injury caused him to miss eight games earlier this season. Antetokounmpo had his right calf wrapped in the first half of their 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He did not appear comfortable the rest of the night and left for good with 34 seconds remaining. “At the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player said he expected to undergo an MRI
Taiwanese FORTUNES: Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles, but Ray Ho was ousted in the men’s doubles Carlos Alcaraz yesterday stepped up his quest to win a maiden Australian Open as he overwhelmed showman Corentin Moutet to reach the last 16, while Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles. Three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev battled through on day six at a warm and sunny Melbourne Park, as did Coco Gauff. Top seed Alcaraz was never in danger against French 32nd seed Moutet, easing through 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena in 2 hours, 5 minutes. It was the Spaniard’s 100th Grand Slam match and he boasts a remarkable 87-13 win-loss record,
RSS