Tokyo (AFP)

Hungarian swordsman Aron Szilagyi, 31, on Saturday in Tokyo became the first male fencer in history to field three consecutive individual Olympic titles, a feat that not only honors a sportsman but also a man, known in his country for his modesty. as much as his heart ... of gold.

He thus joins the Italian foilist Valentina Vezzali, the only ladies' fencer to have accomplished the same feat (Sydney-2000, Athens-2004 and Beijing-2008).

Vezzali has however three more titles, by teams (Atlanta-1996, Sydney-2000 and London-2012).

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In the final at Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba, for the opening of fencing, Szilagyi easily dominated the Italian Luigi Samele 15-7 to win the third Olympic gold medal of his career after London-2012 and Rio -2016.

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Korean Kim Jung-hwan won the bronze medal at the expense of Georgian Sandro Bazadze (15-11).

This feat of Szilagyi constitutes one more consecration for the Hungarian fencing school, whose excellence has been a constant for decades, to the point of having seen its double Olympic champion (1968 and 1972) in épée, Pal Schmitt, to become ... President of the Republic in 2010.

In Rio, already, Szilagyi had equaled the French Jean-François Lamour, double Olympic champion in 1984 and 1988, becoming the fifth saber in history to achieve the Olympic double in individual, and the third Hungarian after Jenö Fuchs (1908 and 1912 ) and Rudolf Karpati (1956 and 1960).

- Mathematical and precocious -

Born in Budapest, this right-hander with a proud physique (1.80 m, 79 kg) is also renowned in his country for being one of the most intelligent sportsmen - he has notably collected several prizes in mathematics - and the most modest: he often participates as a goodwill ambassador in canine therapy sessions offered to children suffering from autism and / or Down syndrome.

A precocious talent - he started fencing at the age of 9 at the Vasas club - he was spotted very young and with integrity in 2007, when he was still only a cadet, the senior Hungarian team with which he won, at the World Championships in St. Petersburg, the team gold medal in saber, beating France 45-43, a first for her country since 1998.

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His progress was then constant and dazzling: in 2009, he won bronze at the Worlds in Antalya and in 2013, he finished third in individual at the European Championships in Sheffield.

A graduate in international relations, this light-eyed brunette was Hungary's flag bearer at Rio-2016, before being elected president of the Athletes' Commission at the International Federation in 2017.

In the other tournament of this first day, that of the ladies' épée, it was the Chinese Sun Yiwen who won the gold medal by beating the Romanian Ana Maria Popescu in the final (11-10).

Estonian Katrina Lehis completed the podium.

The French, for their part, returned empty-handed from this first day in Chiba: the swordsman Boladé Apithy and the swordsman Coraline Vitalis were both eliminated as soon as they entered the running.

© 2021 AFP