Ukrainian fencer Igor Reizlin won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, defeating Italy’s Andrea Santarelli with a score of 15:12 on July 25.
Reizlin’s win in the men’s individual epee event secured a second bronze medal for Ukraine since the start of the Olympics, after Ukrainian judoka Daria Bilodid won a bronze medal in judo on July 24.
Reizlin, 37, defeated Swiss fencers Benjamin Steffen with 15:11 and Max Heinzer with 15:12, followed by Egypt’s Mohamed Elsayed with 15:13.
In the semifinals, Reizlin lost 10:15 to Roman Cannon from France.
Reizlin was the only Ukrainian fencer to reach the semifinals as Roman Svichkar and Bohdan Nikishin were defeated in the first round.
Reizlin’s win is historic, for Ukraine, which hasn’t reached the Olympic fencing semifinals in 17 years. A Ukrainian fencer, Vladyslav Tretyak, last won a bronze medal in 2004.
At the 2019 world championship in Budapest, Reizlin won silver in team fencing and bronze in individual fencing.
