PARIS 2024: COUTYA TAKES SECOND GOLD IN EPEE

Dimitri doubled up while Piers had to settle for silver defending his title on a fourth day of GBR success.

Dimitri Coutya secured his second gold medal at Pars 2024 with a commanding performance in the men’s individual epee B final.

Coutya defeated Thailand’s Visit Kingmanaw 15-10, adding to the foil title he claimed on Wednesday night. The victory also marked ParalympicsGB’s 42nd gold of the Games, surpassing the British tally from Tokyo, where they won 41.

Dimitri’s journey to epee gold began with a 15-7 victory over American Noah Hanssen, followed by a 15-10 win against Italy’s Michele Massa in the quarter-finals. In the semis Coutya edged out Poland’s Michal Dabrowski, 15-13.

In the final against Kingmanaw – who he had already defeated in the foil competition earlier in the week – the match was cagey and tight. But tied at 7-7, Coutya rapidly surged ahead, eventually winning 15-10.

“At one point in my first match, I thought I was out. I was struggling and wasn’t feeling it,” said Coutya. “But we’ve worked hard to be consistent even when things aren’t going your way, and as the day progressed, I found my form. To end it with a gold medal is incredible.”

Coutya also credited his success to the support of his team, saying, “This medal is a testament to the hard work of so many people—teammates, support staff, friends, family. They’ve all pushed me to be better, and they’re a huge part of my success.”

On the same evening Piers Gilliver was unable to defend his epee A title, falling 15-12 to China’s Sun Gang in a tight final.

Gilliver, 29, who became Britain’s first Paralympic fencing gold medalist in 33 years in Tokyo, was strong in his earlier rounds in Paris. He beat American William Schoonover 15-1, followed by a 15-12 victory over China’s Jianquan Tian and a 15-6 win over Turkey’s Hakan Akkaya to make a third consecutive Paralympic final.

In a tense and tactical match, Sun, who had previously defeated Gilliver in the  Rio final but lost to him in Tokyo, took an early lead and held on to reclaim his title.

It was a difficult match to watch, with Piers emotional in defeat and unable to speak to the press afterwards. However, his opponent Sun did pay tribute: “He’s very hard to beat. He’s one of the top guys in this category, and he’s won a lot of gold medals,” the Chinese athlete said.

Despite the loss, Gilliver’s silver medal represents the 100th won by Team GB in Paris, hitting the target set by UK Sport, with two days of competition still to go.

GBR’s Gemma Collis made the quarterfinals of the epee A event, but lost to former champion Amarilla Veres of Hungary. Ollie Lam-Watson made the third round of the repechage for the second time this week but lost out to Artem Manko.

In the women’s competition, Saysunee Jana of Thailand completed a clean sweep of the women’s category B individual events by outclassing Paralympic debutant Kang Su of China in the epee final, becoming the first athlete to win the individual title in all three weapons.

“I’m going to become the queen of fencing,” the 50-year-old said afterwards.

The competition concludes with the epee team finals on Saturday.

Guardian coverage here: Coutya helps Britain pass Tokyo gold standard

Independent coverage here: Dimitri Coutya propels GB beyond gold medal haul from Tokyo

Team Bath piece here: Double delight for Dimitri Coutya

Highlights and interview from Channel 4 here

Pics via imagecomms / Paralympics GB and World Abilitysport

The full competition schedule and results is available here: Wheelchair Fencing Schedule

Read BF’s guide to fencing at the Paralympics: Paralympics Guide

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