Turin, Italy, Feb. 9-11, 2024 – USA’s and Hong Kong, China’s Olympic Champions Lee Kiefer and Ka Long Cheung won gold medals at the Turin Women’s and Men’s Foil Grand Prix. The event took place at the Pala Alpitour, with 190 women and 245 men participating in the competition. During this season leading to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, provisional qualification information is available here: https://paris.fie.org/
In the final bout of women’s individual foil, Kiefer faced Italy’s Martina Favaretto, winning with a 15-11 score. In the semifinal round, Favaretto won against teammate and two-time world champion Arianna Errigo, 15-14, while Kiefer defeated Germany’s Anne Sauer, 15-10. Of note, in the table of 16 Errigo beat teammate and two-time world champion Alice Volpi, 15-12.
In the final bout of men’s individual foil, Cheung faced Czech Republic’s Alexander Choupenitch, winning with a 15-11 score. In the semifinal round, Choupenitch won against France’s two-time world champion Enzo Lefort, 15-8, while Cheung defeated USA’s Nick Itkin, 15-14. Of note, in the round of 16, Choupenitch beat Italy’s world champion Tommaso Marini, 15-13, and Cheung won against Italy’s Olympic champion Daniele Garozzo, 15-9. In the round of 32, Japan’s Seishiro Funamoto beat Italy’s world champion Alessio Foconi, 15-12, before being eliminated in the round of 16 by Lefort, 15-13. Also, in the round of 32, Japan’s Kenta Suzumura defeated USA’s world champion Miles Chamley-Watson, 15-5, before being eliminated by Egypt’s Mohamed Hamza in the round of 16, 15-6.
Final rankings in women’s individual foil included Lee Kiefer (USA, gold), Martina Favaretto (ITA, silver), Arianna Errigo (ITA, bronze), Anne Sauer (GER, bronze), Martina Batini (ITA), Sera Azuma (JPN), Jessica Zi Jia Guo (CAN) and Qingyuan Chen (CHN).
Final rankings in men’s individual foil include Ka Long Cheung (HKG, gold), Alexander Choupenitch (CZE, silver), Nick Itkin (USA, bronze), Enzo Lefort (FRA, bronze), Mohamed Hamza (EGY), Carlos Llavador (ESP), Taegyu Ha (KOR) and Kazuki Iimura (JPN).
Complete and official results for this 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.