The individual fencing competitions concluded in an enthralling women's individual sabre and men's individual foil event filled with efficient matches, close calls, and video reviews.

After Americans Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs went 1-2 in the women's individual foil event, Sara Balzer and Manon Apithy-Brunet made the only all-French individual fencing final in this Games during the women's individual sabre event.

In the men's individual foil event, Hong Kong's Cheung Ka Long successfully defended his gold medal, while American favorite Nick Itkin won bronze in his Olympic debut.

Cheung was victorious in an extremely narrow gold medal match against Filippo Macchi. The two were tied for most of the two bouts until Macchi scored a two-point lead against Cheung to widen the gap 14-12.

Cheung came back and tied the match 14-14. After two double touches that resulted in no calls after video reviews, Cheung was victorious in his third attempt at breaking the tie, becoming the third man to defend the individual foil gold. Macchi won silver in his Olympic debut.

"Now, another dream come true," Cheung said of his victory.

In the prior first semifinal match, Japan’s Kazuki Iimura took on Cheung. Iimura was part of the Japanese team that placed first in the team event at the 2023 World Fencing championships. Cheung landed a smooth touch on Iimura’s shoulder, the smallest part of the target area. His height may have helped him easily tap Iimura on the upper chest/shoulder area. World No. 3 Cheung countered the riposte from Iimura to win 15-11 and advance to the gold medal match.

The bronze medal went to Itkin, the world No. 2. Earlier in the day, Itkin won a sudden-death tiebreaker in the Round of 8 against Italian Guillaume Bianchi to move forward to the semifinals — prompting an exuberant display from the American.

In his semifinal match, Itkin used his lightning-fast speed to earn a point in the first five seconds. But after the first five touches, Italian Filippo Macchi read Itkin’s plan of attack and gained several touches by parrying Itkin's attacks and responding with ripostes. After entering the second bout with Macchi leading 12-7, Itkin changed the momentum and scored three touches. He lunged to catch up to Macchi as the French crowd, fueled by their rivalry against Italy, chanted “USA” around him. But in the end, Macchi bested him 15-11.

"[The support is] what the sport needs," Itkin said. "Thank you so much to the French fans, because it's an honor to be able to compete in front of you."

In the subsequent bronze medal round, Itkin played a tough match against Iimura. Itkin used both of his video reviews, one of which was successful in awarding him his 13th point to gain a 2-point lead over Iimura. From there, he was able to quickly achieve the last two touches needed to win bronze and become the fifth American to win a men's individual foil medal.

"It's a blur," Itkin said after winning. "It's so fast, but it's a moment of relief."

Americans Alexander Massialas and Gerek Meinhardt were eliminated in the Round of 16.

Men's individual foil medalists
🥇Cheung Ka Long (HKG)
🥈Filippo Macchi (ITA)
🥉Nick Itkin (USA)

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In a fierce gold medal match, Apithy-Brunet and Balzer went head-to-head to decide who would be crowned Olympic champion in their home country.

Abithy-Brunet was locked in from the start, gaining an early lead over Balzer. After two double touches that were not called, the third was given to Abithy-Brunet to solidify her 15-12 win against Balzer.

As soon as the touch was called, the crowd at the Grand Palais erupted in cheers and Apithy-Brunet's husband, Bolade Apithy, raced to the piste to hoist her up to the crowd. Apithy was previously eliminated in the Round of 16 in the men's individual sabre event and will compete in the men's team sabre event on July 31.

Earlier, Balzer took on Olga Kharlan of Ukraine in a dominant performance that saw Balzer win 15-7 in a quick semifinal match. In the other semifinal, Apithy-Brunet won 15-12 against South Korea's Choi Se-bin after earning the winning touch with a riposte.

Prior to Kharlan and Choi's bronze medal match, Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" hyped the crowd. Kharlan may have heard it because she shook off her deficit against Choi with a hot streak of touches. She won 15-14 to place third and win her fifth Olympic medal.

"I hope some little girl sees me and, in the future, she will know and want to be an Olympic champion, a five-time Olympic medalist," Kharlan said.

Americans Elizabeth Tartakovsky, Magda Skarbonkiewicz, and Tatiana Nazlymov were eliminated in the Round of 32.

Women's individual sabre medalists
🥇Manon Apithy-Brunet (FRA)
🥈Sara Balzer (FRA)
🥉Olga Kharlan (UKR)

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