PARYS – The Olympic adventure of Italian fencing at the Paris Games starts off very badly. The blue athlete Giulia Rizzi was eliminated in the round of 16 in the women’s épée by the Polish Alicja Klasik. And also Rossella Fiamingo, on whom all of Italy was counting for a medal, has been incredibly eliminated. The American Cebula wins, celebrating a victory she had only dreamed of in tears. Fiamingo was ahead 13-12, then the comeback happened. It ends 15-14 for the American athlete. A huge disappointment for Rossella, silver medalist in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the first individual Olympic medal in the history of Italian women’s épée, and bronze in the team event at Tokyo 2020. Her adventure in Paris is not over, as she will still compete in the team competition.
Fiamingo’s words after her elimination
“There were moments when I was ahead by three hits and that’s why I’m upset. I really believe I could have performed better and a little more. She is a strong opponent, but I should have been clear-headed and strong during her mistakes. At 14-all, anything can happen, and I won in Tokyo. I shouldn’t have let it get to that point today. Now I’m going to vent about this bad day and focus on the team competition. I knew that the seeded players struggle in the first round. I faced a unique fencer, but I made too many timing and distance errors. I had too many ups and downs, and I played too much on a 50-50.”
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