Fencing: Republic of Korea's Olympic champion Oh Sanguk wins his first individual Paris gold in men's sabre
After taking team gold in Tokyo, Republic of Korea's three-time world champion Oh Sanguk took his first individual Olympic title in the men's sabre final over Tunisia’s Fares Ferjani in an epic battle at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 27 July.
Staged at the iconic Grand Palais, the fencers were tied 3-3 before Oh took off for what he thought would be an easy 15-6 victory, but video was reviewed after he prematurely celebrated his 15-point win and the bout went on.
Ferjani began to stage a monumental comeback, climbing to 14-11 after he was down eight points, but ultimately fell to Oh for a final score of 15-11 that notably ended with the Korean in the splits.
Oh Sanguk and Fares Ferjani celebrate both claiming the point during the Men's Sabre Individual Gold Medal Bout at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Grand Palais on July 27, 2024.
“In the gold-medal match, I started very well but he was just better on every momentum. And he was just direct,” Ferjani said after taking the silver.
Before earning Olympic silver on this night, the Tunisian’s most notable piece of hardware was a gold medal at the African Games in 2019. Still, Ferjani held his own and kept up with the 2019 world individual champion, who also took the team gold at Tokyo 2020.
“[Oh] just went with a risky plan and it worked very well for him in the first 10 points,” Ferjani said, adding, “I’m very happy with this silver medal.”
The 27-year-old Oh was confident afterwards, saying, “I just listened to my coach, I just did what I had to. So it went well and I managed in the end.
“There wasn't any particular challenge. It was more a problem of timing. With age it gets more difficult to win a medal.”
Italy's Luigi Samele took the bronze medal earlier in the evening with a 15-12 win over Egypt’s Ziad Elsissy.
Fencing: men's sabre individual podium
Gold: Oh Sanguk, Republic of Korea
Silver: Fares Ferjani, Tunisia
Bronze: Luigi Samele, Italy