Japan outscored France 45-40 to take home an historic bronze medal in the women's fencing team sabre event on Saturday, August 3, at the Grand Palais in Paris, a day after losing to Ukraine in the semifinals.
The victory marked the first time Japan's women's or men's team has won an Olympic medal in sabre.
Team Japan's squad of Misaki Emura, Risa Takashima and Seri Ozaki split the nine matches with France 4-4-1, with Japan prevailing due to its margin of victory in its wins. Shihomi Fukushima, the fourth member of the squad, did not play against the French.
Japan trailed 25-23 at the halfway point, but came on to capture three of the final four contests. Ozaki edged Sara Balzer 6-5, Takashima blanked Sarah Noutcha 6-0, and Emura closed it out with a 5-3 triumph over Balzer.
Emura Grateful for Fencing Teammates' Support
"I haven't been able to fence the way I wanted for a long time and I don't think my performance today was that good either," Emura was quoted as saying by Kyodo News. "But my teammates guided me through both mentally and fencing-wise and that enabled me to fight on until the end."
Emura, one of Japan's flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony on July 26, added, "I'm really filled with joy to have been able to win the medal with these teammates."
Ukraine downed South Korea 45-42 for the gold medal later Saturday.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
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