Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Rob Stevens
- Role, BBC Sport Africa
Tunisia’s Fares Ferjani missed out on becoming Africa’s first gold medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympics after defeat in the final of the men’s individual sabre.
The 27-year-old had to settle for silver after being beaten 15-11 by South Korea’s Oh Sanguk at the Grand Palais in the French capital.
Ferjani, seeded 13th, had seen off the world number one Ziad Elsissy in the semi-finals but could not produce another upset against Oh.
The Tunisian, who was born in Tunis but is now based in New York, had finished 22nd at Tokyo 2020 and 25th at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
His best previous result on the senior word stage in individual sabre competition was an 8th-placed ranking at the World Championships in Wuxi, China, in 2018.
Ferjani’s success gave Tunisia its 16th Olympic medal (five golds, four silvers and seven bronzes) since first competing as an independent nation in Rome in 1960.
Tunisia has sent its smallest delegation to the Olympics for two decades, with 26 athletes qualifying for Paris compared the team of 63 for Tokyo.
Meanwhile, there was more disappointment for top seed Elsissy as the Egyptian was beaten to bronze by Luigi Samele, with the Italian winning 15-12 in their meeting.
The 29-year-old will have another chance to pick up a medal when Egypt begin their team sabre campaign on Wednesday.
Blitzboks take bronze
Image source, Getty Images
Earlier on Saturday, South Africa won the continent’s first medal of the Games, taking bronze in the men’s rugby sevens.
The Blitzboks beat Australia 26-19 in a pulsating encounter at the Stade de France, with a last-gasp converted try from Shaun Williams securing the win after Australia’s Nick Malouf had been sent off in the second half.
South Africa had been beaten 19-5 by France in the semi-finals, with the hosts going on to beat two-time defending champions Fiji to gold.
“A lot of people didn’t give us a chance,” said forward Ryan Oosthuizen.
“We only qualified for the Games by repechage, and if someone had said ‘You will be standing on the podium at the end’, I never would have believed them.
“We had an argument after day one about our standards. But we came together and said, ‘We have to fight for South Africa’.
“We are defiant people and we did it. I am so glad.”
South Africa’s women begin their rugby sevens campaign on Sunday, with group matches against Australia and Ireland.