The crowd at the Grand Palais — with plenthy of star power in attendence (see below) — was ecstatic to greet the men’s team foil fencers for an electrifying conclusion to the sport’s return to its French roots. Despite the support, the Americans finished off the podium after France was victorious in the bronze medal match. In the subsequent gold medal match, Japan defeated Italy to become the first non-European country to claim the Olympic champion title in men's team foil.
Japan defeats Italy for men's team foil gold
The dramatic gold medal match started with Japan's Takahiro Shikine, Kazuki Iimura, and Kyosuke Matsuyama earning a prompt lead over Italy.
The Italians weren't going to let them lead the entire match. Guillaume Bianchi of Italy won a slight 20-18 advantage over Shikine in the fourth bout. Bianchi's teammate, Tommaso Marini held this lead throughout the next period.
The Japanese bounced back in the sixth bout to tie the match and take a two-point lead. But in the seventh period, but Matsuyama's attack pushed the handle of Bianchi's weapon into his hand, causing the Italian to take a five-minute medical break to recover.
The injury didn't faze him. Bianchi changed the momentum to score six touches and end the bout 34-35, with Japan only leading by one point.
Both countries had the same plan for the eighth period. Italy substituted Filippo Macchi with Alessio Foconi while Japan swapped Shikine for Yudai Nagano. Although Foconi went into the bout with more experience that Nagano, it was the 25-year-old Japanese fencer who shut down the bout 40-34. Foconi never scored a touch.
Iimura carried his team's push into the final bout against Marini. He bumped Japan's score up to 44 points, putting the pressure on Marini to earn 10 points to tie the match. Marini received two points, but it was Iimura's footwork that made all the difference when he scored the final touch to seal it, 45-36.
France defeats U.S. for men's team foil bronze
Earlier, the U.S. took on France in an intense duel for bronze which saw the French receive several penalties for blocking the target area on their vests.
Americans Alexander Massialas, Nick Itkin, and Chamley-Watson established an early lead in the first third of the match to head into the fourth bout leading 13-10. Then things took a turn for the worse.
France's Enzo Lefort scored five touches on Itkin before Iktin scored a point with a parry and riposte. Although Itkin was able to level the match 15-15, Lefort scored three additional points immediately after to end the fourth bout with a lead for France.
The French progressively added to their advantage and eventually led the match 40-30 heading into the final bout.
Massialas, Team USA's anchor, had a tall order. He needed to score at least 10 points to tie the match before France's Maxime Pauty earned any touches. He put up a valiant effort, earning a promising consecutive two points. It was too little, too late. Pauty was on fire throughout the bout and quickly earned the last five touches needed to win the match and France's seventh medal in fencing at this Olympics.
"It's really brutal," Itkin said. "In this sport, it's really hard to stay consistent. [The French] came out firing. They had the home crowd going for them. They just took a couple bouts in that middle section, and they just used that momentum really well."
"This is going to hurt for a long time, but the reason why it hurts is because we love the sport so much," Massialas said. "We had our expectations so high, that when we fall short of that we are really hard on ourselves."
Despite the disapointment and booing Team USA received from the French fans, the Americans appreciated the support for the sport.
"[The fans were] cheering against us, but I love it. It's amazing for the sport. It's what we need," Itkin said, "When I was a little kid, I would dream of fencing in venues like this. I think fencing is growing so much."
Men's team foil medalists
🥇Japan (Kazuki Iimura, Kyosuke Matsuyama, Takahiro Shikine, Yudai Nagano)
🥈Italy (Guillaume Bianchi, Filippo Macchi, Tommaso Marini, Alessio Foconi)
🥉France (Enzo Lefort, Maxime Pauty, Julien Mertine, Maximilien Chastanet)
Celebrity sightings at team foil fencing final
The stars came out to cheer on Team USA. Five-time Olympic snowboarder Shaun White and his girlfriend Nina Dobrev were seen sitting next to F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. Snoop Dogg also dropped by during the preliminary rounds to watch Miles Chamley-Watson of the U.S., who taught him how to fence earlier in the Games.
