From left to right: Japanese athletes Yuka Ueno, Karin Miyawaki, Komaki Kikuchi, Franck Boidin and Sera Azuma celebrate winning the bronze medal in the women’s foil event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
18:16 JST, August 2, 2024
PARIS — Japan has never won an Olympic medal in women’s fencing, but at the Paris Games the women’s team made history by beating the Canadians by a single point to take home bronze.
Japan defeated Canada 33-32 in the bronze medal match at the Grand Palais on Thursday.
After host Yuka Ueno’s match ended, her three teammates ran to her, unable to contain their joy and excitement as they celebrated their historic victory.
In 2017, the Japanese team underwent a restructuring and Frenchman Franck Boidin was brought in to coach the women’s flotilla team. When Boidin first arrived, he said the team was soft, tender and cute, calling them a “panda team.” But if they wanted to win, they had to become tigers, he told them.
Boidin, who once led the French team, recalled how fencers he coached in France would talk about Japanese women fencers. They said that Japanese women fencers, despite their excellent technique, were not threatening. He tried to instill in them a fighting spirit by saying that their rivals did not see them as serious competitors.
Members of the Paris Olympic team, including Ueno and Sera Azuma, who were rapidly improving at the time, were among those who were re-motivated by his words. Even though they had the talent, when they lost, they became depressed and sometimes cried during a match.
“In the beginning he always told us, ‘Become a tiger,’” Azuma said.
Eventually, Boidin didn’t have to say it so often. As the fencers developed the habit of attacking more aggressively in training, in real fights they would instinctively yell and continue to attack until the referee told them to stop.
Last year the team won the bronze medal at the world championships.
“We’ve changed,” said Komaki Kikuchi, another member of the foil team. “I think we’ve become tigers.”
Japan maintained its lead for most of the bronze medal match with fierce and intense swordsmanship. Boidin, who joined in the celebration and hugged the team members, praised their performance.
The former pandas had far exceeded his expectations.
