The fencing ranking round started the competition in the men’s and women’s pentathlon on Day 13 at the Paris Olympics. France’s Elodie Clouvel took the lead in the women’s event, while Ukraine’s Oleksandr Tovkai and Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy are out front in the men’s event with 245 points each.
Tovkai was pleased with the animated crowd at the fencing arena, “It’s my first Olympic Games and it’s very emotional with the crowd cheering. Of course it's mostly for the French but if you close your eyes you can imagine that it’s for you."
“For pentathlon it’s so rare to see that many tribunes screaming for you. It’s a first-time experience and I liked it very much.”
Elgendy put into perspective what competing means to him. “This is for my country, for my family, for my friends who have supported me the last few years and especially in the hard times, the injuries, the downs. A lot of ups and downs. But I felt great with my people around me. They were always there for me.”
The head-to-head round-robin fencing competition was the only event held on Thursday, with the rest of the disciplines to come the rest of the week. Athletes earn points for each victory which then equates to five second intervals in the laser run, so that the top scorer starts five seconds ahead of the next and so forth.
In the men’s field, it’s not shocking to see Tovkai and Elgendy at the top. They each secured 24 fencing wins (and were dealt 11 defeats) on the first day. Latvia’s Pvels Svecovs surprised to earn 23 fencing wins for 240 points, while South Korea’s Jun Woong-Tae rounded out the top four finishers with 235 points.
In a surprising result, Great Britain’s Joe Choong was outside the top 25 after winning gold in Tokyo and finishing first in the fencing portion.
On the women’s side, Clouvel scored 260 points with 27 wins (and 8 defeats) to lead the way after the fencing round. Reigning Olympic champion Kate French of Great Britain sits in third with 240 points.
Clouvel reveled in the moment. “It’s amazing today because I had a flow. It’s a once in a lifetime, and a big pleasure, to compete in front of my home crowd.”
Lithuania’s Laura Asadauskaite had a disappointing start to her fifth Olympics. She’s the only pentathlete to earn more than one Olympic medal, but finished 23rd after the fencing round.
On the positive side, it's a tight race between positions 12 through 26. Only 10 points separate the middle group, which translates to a 10-second delay in the laser race.
American Jessica Davis is part of that middle group — she finished with 16 fencing wins (and 19 defeats) for a total of 205 points after Day 1.
The women will have a day off, while the men’s semifinal event will start at 7:00a.m. ET on Friday.