Incomplete sensation: Russian foil fencers lost to the French in the final of the team tournament at the Games in Tokyo

The triumph of Russian saber fencers in the team tournament of the Olympic Games in Tokyo allowed the entire fencing team to achieve an outstanding achievement - an early victory in the medal standings of their sport.

For domestic "musketeers" this is not something new.

It was possible to show the best result among all countries both 25 years ago at the Games in Atlanta, and at the last competitions in Rio de Janeiro.

In both cases, fencers won seven medals, four of which turned out to be gold.

In Tokyo, the Russians also won seven awards.

But this result could not yet be considered final.

The competition program included the men's foil team tournament.

Another hit on the podium would allow the team to repeat its Olympic record set in 1980.

Five years ago, the Russian foil fencers gave a surprise and won gold medals. But now there was little chance of repeating that result. Of that championship squad, only Timur Safin remained in the national team, and then only as a substitute. The basis was formed by 21-year-old twin brothers Anton and Kirill Borodachev and even younger Vladislav Mylnikov. At their age, they have long been indisputably the best and won the last two junior championships of the planet, but they went to Tokyo primarily for experience for the next Olympics, and not for medals.

However, the individual foil tournament showed that young Russians should not be discounted. Mylnikov sensationally defeated the first seeded American Gerek Meinherdt, after which he lost to the silver medalist of the 2012 Olympics Alyaeddin Abulkasim from Egypt. Kirill Borodachev made it to the quarterfinals and was leading with a score of 14: 9 against the future gold medal winner Ka Lun Chong from Hong Kong. They definitely made a good impression and clearly did not say their last word at the Games.

The Russians started the team tournament with the quarterfinals, where they got the Hong Kong team. Much in this match depended on what kind of fencing the Olympic champion would show, but nothing supernatural happened in his first fight. Ka Lun Chon won only one shot from Mylnikov, while the Russians left the previous and the next three rounds. Kirill Borodachev did his best, winning his second fight against Xu Lun Chong with a score of 5: 1.

After that, he was going to give way to his brother, but the judges stopped him and demanded to continue the fight. All this time, they thought that it was Anton and Ka Lun Chon who were fencing, who were supposed to meet in the sixth battle and fence up to ten points. It took about 15 minutes to figure out and understand that there was a confusion with the same surnames. This pause gave the winner of the individual tournament a chance to collect his thoughts and win the fight with a score of 8: 5. After that, a substitution was made in Hong Kong, and the fresh Lok Van Lawrence Ng reduced the total gap to three points. Fortunately, the Borodachevs still brought the match to victory.

In the semifinals, the Russians were awaited by the US team.

Five years ago, the two countries also met at this stage, after which the Americans had to continue fighting for only third place.

They just kept their bronze composition, perfectly remembering that defeat.

The attempt at revenge began with the failure of Alexander Massialas in a fight with Anton Borodachev.

After the first unsuccessful rally, the Russian made five clean shots in a row - such fencers are called “in one lantern”.

In the third round, Mylnikov was opposed by Meinherdt, and he took out all his anger for the personal tournament on the opponent.

The Russian team from a leader with a three-point reserve turned into a pursuer.

Anton Borodachev managed to turn the situation around 180 degrees again. After the fight with Reis Imboden, his personal score with the Americans was 12: 3. But the partners did not go well. Mylnikov lost two points to Massialas, and he had to be replaced by Safin. The Olympic champion also had his only fight unsuccessfully - the judges deprived him of his glasses twice after watching video. As a result, before the last duel between Anton Borodachev and Meinherdt, the United States was leading with a score of 35:32.

The Russian athlete managed to perform a miracle here as well.

Yielding two shots at the beginning, he subsequently scored five points in a row, and almost nothing remained of the advantage of the Americans.

It fell to Kirill Borodachev to finish the match, and he defeated Massialas in the same way as his brother did at the start of the semifinals.

The eighth medal of Russian fencers at the Tokyo Olympics has become a reality.

Another team reached the final, which had been waiting for five years for an opportunity to get even with the Russians - France.

In Rio de Janeiro, her foil fencers were content with silver.

Enzo Lefort and Ervanne Le Peschu were able to go out and fight with Safin for Olympic gold again.

In Tokyo, they were accompanied by the proven command fighter Julien Merten.

The French approached the revenge much more thoroughly than the Americans. In the first round, none of them allowed the Russians to score more than three points, as a result of which the score became 15: 8 in their favor. Anton Borodachev tried to knock them down. In the fight with Merten, he emerged victorious, but many of his attacks were not reflected in the protocol. The Russian foil fencer could have further reduced the gap, but there was not enough time for that. Safin also spent all three minutes on the track, and his fight with 39-year-old Le Peschu ended in a draw.

After that, the French launched a real offensive. Lefort and Merten scored 19 points for a couple in the following matches, while the Russians were allowed only six. By the last round, the rivals' advantage had grown to 16 points, and it was unrealistic for Kirill Borodachev to win it back. Le Peschu put an end to the final confrontation and won the first gold for himself at his fifth Olympiad. The Russians, on the other hand, became silver medalists, having suffered defeat from the French following the epee fencers. In three years, this young generation will try to win back at the Paris Olympics.