Hungary’s Szilagyi lands fencing gold

Hungary’s incredible Olympic record in men’s sabre fencing was extended at the ExCeL last night as 22-year-old Aron Szilagyi grabbed their first gold of the London Games. It was the 13th time a Hungarian had triumphed in the event – and that includes...

Hungary’s incredible Olympic record in men’s sabre fencing was extended at the ExCeL last night as 22-year-old Aron Szilagyi grabbed their first gold of the London Games.

It was the 13th time a Hungarian had triumphed in the event – and that includes an amazing run of 11 out of 12 victories between 1908 and 1964.

Szilagyi is their only fencer in the world’s top 50 – he is ranked sixth – was their only representative in the 36-strong field and was also one of the youngest taking part, but after four earlier wins he easily beat Italian Diego Occhiuzzi 15-8 in the final.

Bronze went to Russian Nikolay Kovalev, who had beaten German world no.­ 1 Nicolas Limbach in the last eight.

Kovalev beat Romanian Rares Dumitrescu to claim third place.

Medals table

Country G S B Tot.
China 6 4 2 12
United States 3 5 3 11
Italy 2 3 2 7
South Korea 2 1 2 5
France 2 1 1 4
North Korea 2 0 1 3
Kazakhstan 2 0 0 2
Australia 1 1 1 3
Brazil 1 1 1 3
Hungary 1 1 1 3
Netherlands 1 1 0 2
Russia 1 0 3 4
Georgia 1 0 0 1
South Africa 1 0 0 1
Japan 0 2 3 5
Great Britain 0 1 1 2
Colombia 0 1 0 1
Cuba 0 1 0 1
Poland 0 1 0 1
Romania 0 1 0 1
Taipei 0 1 0 1
Azerbaijan 0 0 1 1
Belgium 0 0 1 1
Canada 0 0 1 1
Moldova 0 0 1 1
Norway 0 0 1 1
Serbia 0 0 1 1
Slovakia 0 0 1 1
Ukraine 0 0 1 1
Uzbekistan 0 0 1 1

Today’s highlights

• Swimmer Michael Phelps looks to defend his 200m butterfly title, an event in which he has held the world record for a decade (heats 11.30 a.m.; finals 8.30 p.m.).

• Great Britain and Argentina clash in the men’s field hockey, after recent tensions between the two nations on the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war (8 p.m.).

• British diver Tom Daley looks to honour the memory of his father who died of cancer in May as he and team-mate Pete Waterfield go for gold in the 10m synchronised event (starts 4 p.m.).

Results

Waterpolo (Men)
Greece vs Croatia 6-8; Kazakhstan vs Spain 6-14; Italy vs Australia 8-5; Hungary vs Serbia 10-14; Romania vs Great Britain 13-4; Montenegro vs USA 7-8.

Volleyball (Men)
Great Britain vs Bulgaria 0-3; Russia vs Germany 3-0; Australia vs Argentina 0-3; USA vs Serbia 3-0; Poland vs Italy 3-1.

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