S. Korea wins third consecutive men's sabre team gold

South Korean men's fencing sabre team has achieved three consecutive wins at the Olympics. The South Korean team, comprised of Gu Bon-gil (35), Oh Sang-wook (28), Do Kyung-dong (25), and Park Sang-won (24), clinched victory in the team sabre event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, defeating Hungary 45-41 in the final held at Paris’s Grand Palais, continuing their winning streak from the 2012 London and 2021 Tokyo Games. In the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the sabre team event was not held due to the rotation principle for fencing events. This time, South Korea advanced to the finals by defeating the host nation France 45-39 in the semifinals, despite their one-sided support from home fans.

This is the first time an Asian country has won the Olympic fencing team event three times in a row. On a global scale, only Russia, Italy, France, and Hungary have won more than three consecutive Olympic titles in fencing. The sport, which has been part of the Olympics since the first iteration of the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, introduced the team event at the 1904 St. Louis Games, marking ‘120 years of Olympic tradition.’

Oh Sang-wook, who won the individual sabre gold four days prior, became the first South Korean athlete to achieve double gold in Paris. Oh is also the first South Korean fencer to win two Olympic titles. Having been part of the 2020 Tokyo team gold-winning squad, Oh has now secured three Olympic gold medals.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com