Japanese fencers take gold finish at Paris Olympics, ending competition with just one medal behind host nation France

PARIS — Japanese fencers made great strides at the Paris Olympics, ending their events with a gold medal in the men’s foil event. Japan has achieved the remarkable feat of winning five fencing medals at the current Games, second only to France.

Of the three swords used in fencing, the foil is the most popular event in Japan. The men’s foil team is currently ranked number one in the world, but their best result before Paris was a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

“We were all determined to surpass the silver in London. We never wavered in our single-minded focus,” said Kyosuke Matsuyama, captain of the men’s foil team.

Matsuyama has been captain for eight years, since he was 19. He succeeded Yuki Ota, who won a silver medal in the individual foil at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in the team event in London.

The greatest ambition of his successors, including Matsuyama, was to continue Ota’s legacy, stand shoulder to shoulder with him and surpass him.

Matsuyama was also captain of the foil team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but they finished in fourth place. Japan’s first gold medal in fencing, a long-cherished dream of the country’s fencing association, was won by the men’s epee team at those Games.

Matsuyama said this redoubled his determination for the Paris Olympics.

Matsuyama perfected his steps and footwork with Erwann Le Pechoux, who became the team’s coach after the Tokyo Games. As a result, he won bronze in the individual event and gold in the team event at last year’s World Championships, making him the ace of the team that went to Paris.

In the final, Matsuyama led his team’s attack by scoring points with deft footwork. He gave advice to Kazuki Iimura, just 20 years old, and Yudai Nagano, making his Olympic debut in Paris, and sent them onto the track. As his teammates competed, he cheered until he was hoarse.

“The captain’s hard work was rewarded with this wonderful result,” said Ota, who was on site to watch.

Matsuyama said that while his epee and sabre colleagues continued their success, “I felt we couldn’t go back to Japan unless we won a medal too.”

There was no reason to worry: Matsuyama’s team won the only gold medal among Japanese fencers.

Japan made a strong impression on the public in France, the birthplace of fencing.