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Brice Guyart of France solved the Italian marching attack and won the gold medal by defeating Salvatore Sanzo 15-13 in the gold medal bout at the Athens Olympics.
Sanzo had led for the entire bout until 12-11
This is Guyart's second gold medal - he won the gold medal in the team foil event in Sydney.
The bout was more physical than most fencing matches, with Guyart receiving 2 penalties for contact with his opponent.
If defeat, Sanzo was critical of the referee. "I am disappointed with the referee," Sanzo said. "He made at least three very serious mistakes. I won the silver medal, but I can't be satisfied because I have won everything in my career except the gold medal in the Olympic Games."
Guyart also defeated Sanzo's teammate - Andrea Cassara in the semifinal match. Cassara went on to defeat Ganeev of Russia for the bronze medal.
Cassara (left) vs. Ganeev in the bronze medal bout.
Photo courtesy Serge Timacheff/FencingPhotos.com
Among US fencers, Dan Kellner (Warren, N.J.) came one touch short of reaching the quarterfinals after holding the lead at 14-12 but was nipped in sudden death by Richard Kruse of Great Britain by the score of 15-14 in the round of 16. Kellner, going into the competition seeded 26th, upset Cedric Gohy of Belgium (the #7 seed) 15-12 in the round of 32.
Jon Tiomkin (Hewlett, N.Y.) faced an exceptionally tough seed in the round of 32: Andrea Cassara of Italy, the #1 seed. He lost 15-3. Earlier, in the round of 64, he had defeated Maher Ben Aziza of Tunesia 15-10.
Jed Dupree (Bethlehem, Pa.) lost his first bout in the round of 64 to Sofiane El Azizi of Algeria 15-14.
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