Paris, France, July 31, 2024: Korea’s fencers collected their third consecutive gold medal in the men's sabre team event at Grand Palais on Wednesday. It was Korea's sixth gold medal of Paris 2024.
Oh Sang-uk, Gu Bon-gil, Park Sang-won and Do Gyeong-dong pushed Korea past Hungary 45-41 in the final, making Korea the first Asian country to win three straight team fencing medals in Olympic history.
The streak started at London 2012. The men's sabre team event was not included in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics due to a rotation system, and when it made its way back in Tokyo five years later, Korea won the gold medal again.
Oh, who had earlier won the individual title, became the first double gold medalist for Korea in Paris. He is now also the first Korean fencer to capture two gold medals at a single Olympics.
Park (5-4), Oh (10-8) and Gu (15-11) kept Korea in front after three relays, and Korea led by as many as seven points at 40-33 after eight bouts. Oh sealed the victory in the next relay.
At age 35, Gu captured his third consecutive Olympic gold medal.
France won bronze with a 45-25 victory over the Islamic Republic of Iran, who upset second-ranked United States in the opening round.
In the semifinal against Hungary, Iran came within two points (43-45) of winning the country’s first Olympic medal in fencing.