Fencing: The Italian foil team is world champion

Italian foil returns to the top of the world. On a virtually perfect day, the fifth of the World Fencing Championships in Tbilisi, the quartet of Guillaume Bianchi, Filippo Macchi, Tommaso Marini, and Alessio Foconi delivered Italy's first title: a thrilling final, won with a last-gasp victory (43-43 over the USA) after a spectacular run for coach Simone Vanni's team, which reclaimed the gold medal it had missed since the 2022 World Championships in Cairo.

After a winning debut against Croatia, the Italian foil fencers defeated Singapore 45-20 on the Georgian court in the round of 16 and, with the same determination, dominated the quarterfinal against Poland, losing 45-36. In the semifinals, the Italians put on another display of strength, defeating France 45-30 in the same match that had won gold at the European Championships in Genoa a month earlier. This time, the victory sent Italy to the final against the United States. A thrilling match, opened by a superb Bianchi who scored a 5-0 lead in the first set: then Macchi struggled and was stopped by a comeback from American Alexander Massialas, who put the US ahead. The match continued evenly, with Italy once again in the lead: Bianchi again in the fifth set brought the Italians back to 25-21, Marini extended the lead, and in the seventh set Macchi extended the Italian lead to 10 points. But then it was Marini himself (who went out in the round of 32 in the individual competition) who suffered (2-10 the partial against Itkin) and Italy once again felt the breathing down its neck of the stars and stripes team.

Bianchi was tasked with closing the deal: the Roman fencer, who will turn 28 on July 30, succeeded in the feat and took the gold medal by just one thrust over the USA, who played until the end and were able to recover a 10-point deficit to bring themselves to within one point of Italy, who, despite the slim advantage, returned to celebrate.

A year after winning silver at the Paris Games, this is the 25th team gold medal for the Italian men's foil team at the World Championships. It's been the first time since 2022 (same three-quarters of the team, but with Garozzo on the platform, now head of delegation replacing Macchi). "The whole day seemed easy because the approach was spectacular. In the final, we faced experienced opponents who studied us, but we did a great job of holding our own: the team is compact, and trusting each other is crucial," said Foconi, a 35-year-old from Rome.

The Olympic women's fencers, however, failed to make the podium. Italy, led by coach Dario Chiadò (Rossella Fiamingo, Giulia Rizzi, Alberta Santuccio, and Sara Maria Kowalczyk), failed to secure a spot on the podium, defeated 37-31 by Korea in the third-place match. The Olympic women's medal bid was halted by France, who, in the semifinals, a rematch of the final Olympic event, this time prevailed 45-32, going on to win the world title.