The major upsets in the first Olympic fencing events on Saturday should’ve been an indicator to expect the unexpected in the subsequent women’s individual foil and men’s individual epee events.

Four women, including two Americans and one Canadian, are moving forward to the semifinals. With only one Italian in the mix, there’s a chance that Europeans will be absent from the women’s individual foil podium for the first time in Olympic history.

In an exciting Round of 16 match, American Lauren Scruggs faced fellow Harvard University teammate, Canadian Jessica Guo. Scruggs was looking for redemption from when she lost against Guo and finished second at the 2024 NCAA Championships. After getting an early lead, Scruggs won 15-11 against Guo.

Scruggs faced world No. 1 Arianna Errigo of Italy in the following Round of 8. The pressure was on when Errigo tied the match 14-14 after a potential winning touch from Scruggs was not counted. In the last thirty seconds of the final bout, Errigo and Scruggs both lunged for a touch. Scruggs won in an upset, ending Errigo's bid to defend her Olympic silver medal from Tokyo.

"[In Rio, my mother told me,] 'A gold medal doesn't make you a better athlete. It's just a list of prizes, and you are very strong,'" Errigo said. "I wouldn't be a better person or athlete with a gold medal, so I'm happy."

Defending Olympic gold medalist Lee Kiefer, also from the U.S., advanced to the semifinals after a landslide win against Hungary’s Flora Pasztor.

Canadian Eleanor Harvey had a shocking win against Italy’s Martina Favaretto in the Round of 8. Favaretto and Errigo were part of the Italian sweep of the 2023 World Fencing Championships podium with Alice Volpi, who is the lone Italian advancing to the semifinals.

Advancing to semifinals:
Eleanor Harvey (Canada)
Lauren Scruggs (United States)
Lee Kiefer (United States)
Alice Volpi (Italy)

BRACKET

The men’s individual epee event was not free of its own upsets. World No. 1 and No. 2, Hungary’s Gergely Siklosi and Mate Koch were expected to be major podium threats, but Koch was eliminated in the Round of 32 and Siklosi fell in the Round of 16. Siklosi put up an impressive effort against Neisser Loyola of Belgium, but ultimately lost when Loyola won the winning touch in the last 12 seconds of the sudden-death tiebreaker round.

In a surprising performance, Elmir Alimzhanov and Ruslan Kurbanov defeated French hometown heroes Romain Cannone and Luidgi Midelton, who were both major medal contenders.

"It's a chess match," Cannone said. "Everyone can win. It's the creme de la creme. It would be too easy if there was a favorite."

Italian Davide Di Veroli lost 11-15 to Japan’s Masaru Yamada in the Round of 16, solidifying Japan’s dominance in this discipline. Yamada’s team member, Koki Kano, will advance to the semifinals.

Advancing to semifinals:
Koki Kano (Japan)
Tibor Andrasfi (Hungary)
Mohamed Elsayed (Egypt)
Yannick Borel (France)

BRACKET