Oh Sang-uk (left) and Gu Bon-gil of South Korea celebrate after winning the gold medal in the men's sabre fencing team event at the Paris Olympics at Grand Palais in Paris on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
PARIS -- The South Korean men's sabre fencing team at the Paris Olympics was much different than the one at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
But the new-look team produced the exact same result on Wednesday: the gold medal.
With half of the team from 2021 changed, South Korea defeated Hungary 45-41 in the gold medal match of the Paris Games at Grand Palais in the French capital.
Oh Sang-uk, Gu Bon-gil and Park Sang-won, with Do Gyeong-dong as an alternate, gave South Korea its third consecutive gold in this event, a streak that covers a 12-year stretch.
The men's sabre team event was not part of the 2016 Olympics due to a rotation system, and made its way back to the Olympics in 2021.
South Korea's streak began in 2012 but it was the 2021 team that really captured fencing fans' imagination.
Oh and Gu were joined by Kim Jung-hwan and Kim Jun-ho. At the peak of their powers, they were called "the Avengers" by South Korean fencing fans. The fearsome foursome won virtually every major international title in sight, not just the Olympic gold.
But Kim Jung-hwan and Kim Jun-ho both retired from international competition earlier this year. The national team staff considered different candidates to fill those gaping holes, and settled on a pair of unproven athletes in the 23-year-old Park and the 24-year-old Do. Paris would only be the second international competition for the new quartet, following an International Fencing Federation World Cup event in March.
In many ways, the South Korean men's sabre program was in transition coming into Paris. This was going to be the last hurrah for the 35-year-old Gu, the one constant of the team for the entire winning streak. Park and Do were as green as they come. And Oh, 27, had been dealing with ankle and wrist injuries over the past couple of years. It was fair to wonder if this group had what it takes to extend the gold medal streak.
But some of the concerns were alleviated on Saturday, when Oh captured the individual gold medal and Park put on a promising performance by upsetting world No. 6 from the United States, Colin Heathcock, in the round of 32.
They were able to take that momentum into the team event Wednesday.
In beating Canada 45-33 in the quarterfinals, Oh and Park each won two individual bouts. Gu looked a bit shaky then, but bounced back in the 45-39 win over France in the quarterfinals. With South Korea up 10-7, Gu blanked Bolade Apithy 5-0 in their bout to give his team an eight-point cushion. Park followed that up with a 5-2 win over Maxime Pianfetti to turn the match into a blowout.
Oh, Gu and Park got the start in the final. And Do made his Olympic debut as a substitute for Gu in the seventh bout, and it turned out to be the biggest turning point of the final.
South Korea saw its lead dwindle from four points to just one point, and nursed a 30-29 advantage when Do stepped on the piste against Krisztian Rabb. And before Rabb knew what hit him, Do scored five straight points to end their bout and give South Korea some breathing room at 35-29.
Do said afterward he considered himself "a secret weapon" before entering the match. He felt so prepared for the moment that the narrow lead, with Hungary threatening to grab the momentum, didn't faze him.
"It was just a one-point lead but I didn't think we were in any danger," Do said. "I told the guys that they should trust me because I was going to get it done. I was confident, and I am thankful I had this opportunity to show what I am capable of."
Park, who immediately followed Do, thanked his teammate for making life easy for him.
"He did his job perfectly, and I was very relaxed when it was my turn," Park said.
Hungary battled hard but only got to within three points near the end before Oh finished off the match at 45-41.
Oh, who became the first South Korean fencer to win two gold medals at the same Olympic Games, said the team title wouldn't have been possible without the two new additions.
"They performed better than Bon-gil and I did. We just rode their coattails in the end," Oh said. "With history on the line, I did feel some pressure, and I didn't handle it as well as I should have. It's something I have to improve going forward."
With everyone contributing, even the alternate who hadn't appeared in a match until the very last one, this victory was the very definition of team effort.
Both Park and Do have said they started fencing after watching Gu win the 2012 Olympic gold on television. A dozen years later, they stood next to their idol on the top of the podium.
Gu said he leaned on those youngsters as much as they leaned on him at the Olympics.
"When I was struggling, they kept encouraging me and telling me they trusted me," Gu said. "That gave me the confidence to go on."
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