Egypt faced the French sabre team in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament on Tuesday, July 31. Although the Blues won 45-41, it was anything but a walk in the park against an opponent who continues to improve.
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Dripping wet, Maxime Pianfetti and his teammates had to fight like dogs to overcome Egypt, not there “by chance”, in the quarter-finals. And the Frenchman was able to count on the always extraordinary atmosphere of the Grand Palais to get rid of Ziad Elsissy and his gang. They put pressure on us, it was hard, admits Maxime Pianfetti. We stayed united because Egypt is very strong. Ziad Elsissy was world number 1, it’s a big team. We’re not in the 60s anymore, the whole world is capable of performing in fencing. »
A medal for Mohamed Elsayed in individual
With Egypt, the fencing planet continues to grow. Abdelmoneim El Husseiny, a two-time Olympian in foil, now vice-president of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), is optimistic about the development of his sport on the African continent. We have almost qualified our men’s foil and sabre teams for the Paris 2024 Games. On the women’s side, we have very competitive teams in foil and épée. At Paris 2024, Egypt will be aiming for medals ” he confided on the website of Free Games.
Defeated in the semi-final by the French Yannick Borel, Mohamed Elsayed won the small final in the épée at JO 2024 against Hungarian Tibor Andrasfi, Sunday, July 28. This bronze medal is the second won by the African continent so far in fencing, after the silver medal won by Tunisian sabre fencer Fares Ferjani. It is Egypt’s second Olympic medal in fencing history, twelve years after Alaaeldin Abouelkassem’s silver in foil in London.
Fencing, priority of the Egyptian Ministry of Sports
Fencing remains a sport that is still underdeveloped in Africa, except in the north of the continent, including Egypt and the Maghreb countries. In Rio in 2016, Inès Boubakry won a bronze medal, thus obtaining the first Olympic medal for Tunisian fencing and for an African fencer. Since 2022, the Egyptian federation has signed a cooperation agreement with the African confederation. Any African fencer has the opportunity to come and train with the Egyptian national team, all for free.
Egypt is currently the best representative at the world level. At the cadet and junior world championships in Bulgaria in 2023, the national team won five medals and took third place in the nations ranking. Proof that there is enthusiasm and real training work. The same year, at the senior world championships in Milan, Ziad El-Sissy won the bronze medal in the individual sabre. Egypt begins to play in the big leagues “, comments Jean-François Lamour, double Olympic sabre champion and former Minister of Sports in France. In Paris, Egypt has qualified in five of the six weapons team events.
Fencing, weightlifting, handball and taekwondo are among the sports that the Egyptian Ministry of Sports would like to continue to promote. Egypt has hosted the World Fencing Championships twice, in 1949 and 2022.
Read alsoJO 2024 program and calendar