Romain Cannone wins men’s fencing individual épée in debut Olympics

France’s Romain Cannone has had the Games of his life by beating world champion Hungary’s Gergeley Siklosi in the final of the men’s individual épée at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on 25 July.

The 24-year-old rank outsider, who was making his Olympic debut, took command of the contest from the start by going 2-0 up before world ranked number one, Siklósi, scored a point. The final result was 15-10.

The shock result led to cheers from Cannone's team who then picked him up and threw him in the air with delight at the Makuhari Messe Hall B.

Describing how he felt the moment he had won, he said: “I was shocked and truly happy, I didn’t know how to celebrate.

“I just felt this happiness and this energy. I was living the moment fully and completely and I also felt the good energy from my team."

On his road to victory, the fencer, who came 30th in the men’s individual épée in the 2019 World Championships in Budapest, also beat Ukrainian Igor Reizlin, who is ranked third in the world, in the semifinal in 15-10.

In another major upset of the tournament, Siklósi, 23, beat reigning Olympic champion PARK Sangyoung from the Republic of Korea in the quarterfinals. The final score was 15-12.

The bronze medal match was a close contest on Day 2 of the Games with Reizlin defeating Italy’s Andrea Santarelli 15-12. The pair had battled it out for nearly 18 minutes before the Ukrainian, who also came third in the World Championships, won.