BUDAPEST, Hungary, March 4-6, 2022—Venezuela’s Olympic champion Ruben Limardo-Gascon won the individual men’s gold and Italy’s Alberta Santuccio won the individual women’s gold at the Budapest Westend Epee Grand Prix. The competition took place at the BOK Hall (former SYMA Hall) and included 271 men’s and 210 women’s epeeists participating. The Grand Prix was dedicated to the memories of József Sákovics for the men’s event and Győző Kulcsár for the women’s event.
Limardo Gascon won the gold medal in men’s epee against Hungary’s David Nagy, 13-5. Nagy beat Finland’s Niko Vuorinen in the semifinal match, 12-11, while Limardo Gascon won against Italy’s Gabriele Cimini, 13-9.
Santuccio won the gold medal in women’s epee against Hungary’s Anna Kun, 15-7. Kun beat Estonia’s Katrina Lehis in the semifinal match, 14-11, while Santuccio won against Korea’s Injeong Choi, 12-11. Of note, Lehis defeated Italy’s two-time world champion Rossella Fiamingo in the quarterfinals, 12-11.
Final rankings in men’s epee included Ruben Limardo Gascon (VEN, gold), David Nagy (HUN, silver), Gabriele Cimini (ITA, bronze), Niko Vuorinen (FIN, bronze), Andrea Santarelli (ITA), Kazuyasu Minobe (JPN), Ruslan Kurbanov (KAZ) and Mate Tamas Koch (HUN).
Final rankings in women’s epee included Alberta Santuccio (ITA, gold), Anna Kun (HUN, silver), Injeong Choi (KOR, bronze), Katrina Lehis (EST, bronze), Rossella Fiamingo (ITA), Katharine Holmes (USA), Anne Cebula (USA) and Kristina Kuusk (EST).
Complete and official results for the event may be found here on the FIE web site. For more exciting world fencing news and features, check out the YouTube FIE Fencing Channel.