RIO DE JANEIRO - Yana Egorian (RUS) beat world No. 1 Sofya Velikaya (RUS) 15-14 to win the Olympic gold medal in the women’s individual sabre on Monday, the first all Russian final since Atlanta 1996.
The 22-year-old Egorian trailed Velikaya for most of the bout, but fought back to make it 14-14. A final lunge was enough to take gold, her first senior Olympic medal.
“I feel ecstatic. All my training, all these years, have paid off. … The feeling is
indescribable. I don’t know what to say, so many mixed emotions. My whole life
rushed in front of my eyes."
- Yana Egorian (RUS)
Egorian, the world No. 5, had previously won two titles this season – the Seoul Grand Prix and a World Cup stage in Orleans, France. She was a gold medal winner at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010. Meanwhile, it was a second consecutive silver for 31-year-old Velikaya, the world and European champion who was beaten in the London 2012 final by Kim Jiyeon (KOR). Egorian, the world No. 5, had previously won two titles this season – the Seoul Grand Prix and a World Cup stage in Orleans, France. She was a gold medal winner at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010.
Meanwhile, it was a second consecutive silver for 31-year-old Velikaya, the world and European champion who was beaten in the London 2012 final by Kim Jiyeon (KOR).
“I took risks, I didn’t have enough distance. I felt like I didn’t have enough movement
throughout the tournament. I made many mistakes. … I’m glad my country still has
the gold."
- Sofya Velikaya (RUS)
Two-time world champion Olga Kharlan (UKR) retained her bronze medal from the London Games, beating France’s world junior silver medallist Manon Brunet (FRA) 15-10.
"I'm very happy that I got this medal. I can't say it's deserved, but every medal is a
gold medal in the Olympics." - Olga Kharlan (UKR)
- In the last all-Russian fencing final, Stanislav Pozdnyakov beat Sergey Sharikov to win gold in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta
- Two-time Olympic champion Mariel Zagunis (USA) lost in the last 16 to Ekaterina Dyachenko (RUS) by a score of 15-13.
- Anna Marton (HUN), the world No. 4, was defeated 15-12 in the last 16 by Manon Brunet (FRA).
- World No. 6 Shen Chen (CHN) was beaten 15-9 in the table of 32 by Malgorzata Kozaczuk (POL), the world No. 35.
- Reigning Olympic champion Kim Jiyeon (KOR) was eliminated in the table of 16 by Loreta Gulotta (ITA), the world No. 26, by a score of 15-13.
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