RIYADH, Saud Arabia, April 16, 2024 – Ukraine’s Anna Maksymenko and Türkiye’s Doruk Erolcevik won gold medals in cadet women’s and men’s epee at the 2024 Riyadh Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships. Today’s competitions, on the fifth day of 18 individual and team events taking place from April 12 to 20, included 129 women and 146 men and are being held at the King Saud University Sports Arena.
Maksymenko faced USA’s Sharika Gajjala in the final bout of cadet women’s individual epee, winning with a 15-13 score. In the semifinal round, Gajjala won against Ukraine’s Emily Conrad, 15-7, while Maksymenko defeated China’s Huishuang Jiang, 15-10.
“I feel really happy because this is the last cadet year in my career”, said Maksymenko. “This was my dream, to win this gold medal. I was on the World Championships podium two years ago with the silver, and for today I was gold. The most difficult part for me today was after the pools, I felt really tired and I talked with my coach and he calmed me down and then everything went good. This means a lot for my country and I’m really happy with this result.”
Erolcevik faced Egypt’s Eslam Osama in the final bout of cadet men’s individual epee, winning with a 15-13 score. In the semifinal round, Osama won against USA’s Alexander Bezrodnov, 10-9, while Erolcevik defeated Italy’s Federico Varone, 14-10.
“I feel so great to be world number one ... I can’t explain it, you can just feel it”, said Erolcevik. “In pools it got me so tired, and then it went so great. The final was a tough one, he was strong, he was fast, but I was faster than him. I just used everything except touching the foot. My family is so proud of me and I’m proud for my country. My goal is to be Olympic champion.”
Final rankings in cadet women’s epee included Anna Maksymenko (UKR, gold), Sharika Gajjala (USA, silver), Emily Conrad (UKR, bronze), Huishuang Jiang (CHN, bronze), Anna Szilard (HUN), Mariachiara Testa (ITA), Laura Misiak (POL) and Arina Zakharova (AIN).
Final rankings in cadet men’s epee included Doruk Erolcevik (TÜR, gold), Eslam Osama (EGY, silver), Alexander Bezrodnov (USA, bronze), Federico Varone (ITA, bronze), Ole Petersen (GER), Kerkko Jarvi (FIN), Elisei Pisarev (AIN) and Noam Duchene (FRA).
Complete and official results for the event may be found on the FIE website. For more exciting world fencing news and features, check out the YouTube FIE Fencing Channel.