Not sparing himself: the feat of Martyanova brought gold to the Russian foil fencers at the Tokyo Olympics

Easy start with Egypt

One of the most dramatic events of the Tokyo Olympics for the Russian team was the final in the women's foil tournament. Inna Deriglazova easily passed all rivals and was ready to celebrate the second victory in a row, but American Lee Kiefer unexpectedly stood in her way. In the world of fencing, she is far from the last athlete, but still, she was not even close to such a favorite as the Russian woman. Nevertheless, it was she who got the gold.

But in fencing, if you fail to win on the first try, there is always the second. Frustrated by the silver, Deriglazova immediately promised to do everything possible to win the team tournament and become a two-time Olympic champion. However, even without these words, the Russians could not claim anything other than gold. Firstly, almost the same foil fencer lineup that won the 2019 World Cup gathered in Tokyo. Secondly, Larisa Korobeinikova won the personal bronze, and with her the team automatically reached a new level unattainable for rivals.

The team tournament also gave Deriglazova the opportunity to take revenge on Kiefer without waiting for other competitions.

According to the results of the draw, the Russians and the American were in the same half of the playoff grid, so in an ideal scenario they should have met in the semifinals, the loser in which could not be content even with silver.

Before this, the Russian foil fencers still had to go through the first round of the Egyptians, but this was more of a formality than a serious test.

In the individual tournament, the rivals for three made only 13 injections, so the fights with them became a simple warm-up for the Russians.

Korobeinikova and Deriglazova even won the first two rounds dry, and later gave away only six points.

True, it was not without problems at all.

The third number of the Russian team, Adelina Zagidullina, clearly felt insecure.

She lost in two of her fights with a total score of 8:12 - in a match with such weak opponents, this is unacceptable.

American women would not forgive such a thing.

Exhausting thriller from the USA

The fears were not in vain. After Deriglazova opened the semifinals with a confident victory over Nicole Ross with a score of 5: 1, Zagidullina did not put up a decent resistance to Kiefer. The American gave her five more injections and brought the team forward. The next round only confirmed the US leadership. Korobeinikova could not catch up with Jacqueline Dubrovich, although the judges were partly to blame for this - in the last fight the Russian woman fell out of the hands of the foil, and she asked to stop the fight, but they not only did not do this, but also credited the American with a shot at the disarmed athlete.

The coaches of the Russian national team took a desperate step and made a replacement, sending Marta Martyanova, who had not yet fenced in Tokyo, instead of Zagidullina. It was not easy to enter a duel with the United States - the Russian woman at first did not keep her distance at all and easily gave three injections. After changing the foil, she still scored the first point, but the American immediately ended the round in her favor, bringing the US advantage to six points. Deriglazova urgently needed to correct the situation, and as luck would have it in the round with Dubrovich, she did not get into her jacket all the time, lighting a white lantern instead of a green one. A lot of time was wasted on these useless attacks, and the gap was reduced to only two points.

Kiefer, on the other hand, had another outstanding fight with Korobeinikova, whom she beat in the semifinals of the personal tournament. After six rounds out of nine, the Americans were leading with a score of 30:26, and ahead was the fight between Martyanova and Dubrovich. Fortunately, the Russian woman nevertheless got into a rut and was able to make two more injections. Korobeinikova was so wound up that Ross out-fenced with a score of 8: 3. Before the fight between the two finalists, the now Russian girls had an advantage of three injections.

After the defeat in the personal tournament, Deriglazova said that she absolutely needed to be the first to hit in order to take the initiative into her own hands.

This time, Kiefer was again quicker and opened an account, at the same time reducing the team gap to a minimum.

But the Russian woman forgot about her superstitions and joined the struggle with incredible aggression.

She did not allow Kiefer to build on the success and still got Russia a ticket to the final - 45:42.

Exciting finale with France

In the match for gold, Deriglazov, Korobeinikova and now Martyanova were awaited by the French women, who also achieved an incredible strong-willed victory.

They met with Italy and lost 37:40 before the start of the last round.

However, Isaora Chibu did a real feat and defeated Arianna Errigo, a member of the 2012 gold team that left the Russians with silver in London.

France miraculously advanced to its first Olympic final since 1976.

The first to enter the path were Korobeinikova and Tibu.

This was their second meeting in Tokyo - in the individual tournament, the Russian woman had already won with a score of 15:12.

With the same difference, she took the lead in the team duel.

Deriglazova did not experience problems with Anita Blaz and doubled the lead.

Then Martyanova had to meet with the vice-world champion Pauline Ranvier, and this fight turned out to be the most exciting. With the score 1: 2 in a personal meeting, the Russian woman twisted her leg and fell onto the track. For five minutes, the doctor wrapped the ankle around the athlete, and she nevertheless continued to perform, since the reverse replacement with Zagidullina was impossible. Martyanova managed to recoup and leave a difference of five injections for Russia.

Korobeinikova was obliged to perform as best as possible in order to remove additional responsibility from the debutante in a duel with Chibu. The bronze medalist did not disappoint and increased the difference to eight points. For the French national team, the moment of truth came when its leader could turn the tide of the match, but this did not happen. Martyanova desperately resisted and lost only one injection to her opponent. Deriglazova finished the second round with another gorgeous fight with Ranvier, bringing the score to 30:20.

Martyanova again failed to rest - she had to come back and fight with the substitute Astrid Guyard. With a 38-year-old rival, the Russian woman worked perfectly even with an injury and beat her with a score of 5: 1. Ranvier gave the last fight to Korobeinikova, but this did not particularly help the French. Chibu in the last fight with Deriglazova was required to play 12 injections, and even within three minutes, which is almost impossible in the foil. The Russian national team won with a crushing score of 45:34 and won the eighth gold at the Tokyo Olympics.