Kim Young-Ho wins Korea`s first gold in Olympic fencing

Korea's trademark swordsman, Kim Young-Ho, won South Korea's first gold medal in Olympic fencing in Sydney Wednesday. Kim edged Ralf Bissdorf of Germany 15-14 in a neck-and-neck men's individual foil final at the Darling Harbor Exhibition Hall.

After beating Brice Guyart of France and Cliff Bayer of U.S. in the early rounds, Kim overwhelmed Sergiy Golubytsky of the Ukraine 15-5 in five minutes and 24 seconds in the quarterfinal.

In the semifinal, Kim fought a thrilling match against favorite Dmitri Chevtchenko of Russia for a 15-14 win to get the ticket to the final.

With sensational Lee Sang-Ki winning a bronze medal in the men's individual epee, Korean fencing gained two medals in the Sydney Olympics, making it a ``filial sport'' for Korea.

Korea has fielded men's and women's fencing teams in the Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, but none were able to win a medal.

In addition, fencing is not popular in Korea, and attracts little interest from sports fans.

Kim, who won the gold medal for South Korea for the first time in Olympic fencing, is the undisputed top swordsman in Korea.