Paris, France, July 28, 2024: Displaying a speed and strategy that completely bamboozled his much bigger opponent, Japan’s Koki Kano was an impressive winner of the men’s epee individual competition at Grand Palais on Sunday evening.
Playing mostly on the counter, Kano was able to parry the thrusts of France’s four-time Olympian Yannick Borel, 35, and score with a series of lightning strikes that earned him a 15-9 victory and the gold medal.
It was not surprising that Kano, 26, showed such agility and reflexes on the piste as he competed in gymnastics for eight years before switching to fencing in 2008 - after watching Japanese fencer Yuki Ota win a silver medal in individual foil at the Beijing Olympics.
Kano had won gold in team epee at the Tokyo 2020 Games and became the first Japanese fencer to own two Olympic gold medals.
"I can’t realise if this moment is real or not,” he said.
“It is such an enjoyable moment, so incredible that I can do fencing in this Grand Palais. Who knows? It could be the first and last time for me.”
Kano said he was confident going into the final, even though the French veteran had already defeated two Japanese fencers in the round of 16 and in the quarter-finals.
“Borel has beaten two Japanese, so I thought I had to beat him. I was confident because I had already fought with him,” he said.