In a sport born in France and traditionally dominated by Europeans, Team Korea has worked their way to the top of the men’s sabre fencing world. The path, however, has not been easy.
It’s a path that the Tokyo 2020 men’s gold medal team of Kim Jung-hwan, Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jun-ho and Oh Sang-uk gladly discussed at great length in two episodes of Knowing Brothers, a Korean variety show also known by many other names such as Men on a Mission). In episodes 293 and 294, the quartet answered a lot of questions about their sport, their athletic success, and how they had to train abroad to learn how to beat the Europeans at their own game.
But as the Paris Olympics approached, doubts crept in. Although no other team had tasted Olympic gold in 16 years – South Korea won London 2012, had to sit out Rio 2016 because the sabre events were not held, then were victorious again in Tokyo 2020 – the squad had changed. The most decorated of the Tokyo team, Kim Jung-hwan, had not competed in two years. Kim Jun-ho, now popular as a father of two on the variety show The Return of Superman (on which his teammates have made multiple appearances) suddenly retired six months before the Paris Games. That left the veterans Gu and Oh to join forces with Park Sang-Won, 23, and Do Gyeong-dong, 24.
After defeating the home team in the semifinals – France went on to win the bronze – Korea found themselves in the gold medal round against the team who beat the in the previous world championships, Hungary. In the finals off the piste, the Hungarians (Tokyo 2020 bronze medalists) were intensely focused on the competition, whereas a couple of the Korean fencers were so nervous that they kept pacing around. The two sides battled in a very competitive final, but it was the substitute Do who broke it open, scoring all five points against Krisztian Rabb in the seventh period. After nine, the Republic of Korea prevailed, 45-41.
Photos and Videos: Men’s fencing team sabre finals, 2024 Olympic Games, Grand Palais, Paris
all photos and videos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine
