PARIS, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Japan was just one point short to defend its Olympic men's epee team gold after losing to Hungary 26-25 at Paris 2024 here on Friday.
Led by two-time Olympic gold medalist Koki Kano, Japan had a slow start and trailed all the way until the last bout, when Kano put up a 7-5 performance to tie the match at 25 as time ran out.
Gergely Siklosi then scored the final strike to help Hungary win 26-25 and clinch its first men's epee team gold since the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Host France took on the Czech Republic in the bronze medal match, where Czech was up in the first three bouts before Paul Allegre outscored Martin Rubes to put France ahead. France led all the way until the final bout when Czech fencer Jakub Jurka stood up with a stunning 10-2 run against Yannick Borel, silver medalist of the individual event.
The 25-year-old then held off the nerves to secure the bronze medal for the Czech Republic with a narrow 43-41 victory. This is Czech's second Olympic fencing medal, following a men's foil individual bronze from Alexander Choupenitch at Tokyo 2020.
"I'm still in a dream. For me and for our team, it means a lot," said Jiri Beran who retires as an Olympic bronze medallist at age 42. "For me, it was 32 years with an epee in my hand, and it was a long journey and the most beautiful end that I can imagine."
