Tokyo – Rio Olympic teammates Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas / New York Athletic Club / Notre Dame) and Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass. / Zeta Fencing Academy / Harvard) each placed in the top 16 on the opening day of the Games on Saturday.
A 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, Hurley finished 12th overall in Tokyo – her best individual result at the Games.
Hurley entered the Games as the No. 16 seed and earned a bye into the table of 32 where she faced three-time Senior World medalist Erika Kirpu (EST) – a matchup that would be challenging, but came as a relief for Hurley who had the potential of facing her Rio teammate and close friend Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C. / New York Athletic Club / Princeton) in the opener.
“Coming into the Olympics, I didn’t know who I was going to have first round – if I was going to have Kirpu or Kat,” Hurley said. “We decided to just pretend like I was going to have Kirpu, so I’ve been practicing what to do against her for the last, I don’t know, month or so, and really just been drilling it with both coaches, Andrey [Geva] and Sebastien [Dos Santos], having key things I keep reminding myself throughout the match.”
After a 4-3 lead for Hurley in the first period, Kirpu scored the first two touches in the second to take a 5-4 lead and closed the period up 8-7. Late in the third, Kirpu built a 12-10 lead, but Hurley came back with a pair of singles to tie the score at 12. After a double, Kirpu took the lead at 14-13 before Hurley picked off the single she would need to tie the score and send the bout to sudden death overtime.
Although double touches earn points for each opponent in regulation, to win the bout, Hurley would need a single in less than a minute.
The American took the hit she needed to claim the bout, 15-14 – and her first individual bout win in four Olympic appearances.
“Every time I fence Kirpu, it’s always very, very close, so that’s exactly what it was. I
came out in the overtime and I’m just so happy that I did exactly what my brain told me to do because sometimes your brain can’t really talk to your body,” Hurley laughed. “I’m just so happy about the first individual win I’ve had in the Olympics.”
Hurley’s table of 16 bout would come down to the wire as well against Russian Olympic Committee’s Aizanat Murtazaeva who was fresh off an upset of World No. 1 and 2012 Olympic team silver medalist Injeong Choi (KOR) in the 32.
The bout between Hurley and the Russian started slowly with a p-card being thrown before Hurley scoring twice to end the period with a 2-0 lead. After a 4-1 run by Murtazaeva in the second, Hurley fought her way back to tie the bout at 11 and send a second bout to overtime.
After several nail-biting doubles, Murtazaeva earned a single to win the bout, 12-11 against Hurley who said she hesitated on the attack she needed which would be her downfall.
“It was more just me trying to find my confidence in my attack. I can do it. I just couldn’t make myself do it. I can attack. But I couldn’t make myself do it,” Hurley said. “It was just me versus my own brain out there, to be honest, and that last touch is exactly what it was. I hesitated and that’s what I get for it.”
Murtazaeva would go on to finish fourth overall.
Hurley expanded on ending her day with two bouts that came down to one touch each.
“Live on the edge, die on the edge. Overtime is great when you win it, but it hurts when you lose,” she said. “But I feel like I just made one mistake there at the end and that’s just how the dice roll. Overall, I’m pretty happy with my performance. I wish I could obviously be in still, but it’s just how it is.”
Hurley will return to action on Tuesday with additional confidence for the team event.
“I got to see how I would compete on the stage with all the pressure, so I kind of feel more able to deal with it when team comes around,” said Hurley who won gold at the 2018 Senior World Team Championships. “I’m glad individual is before team. It’s definitely helpful to get the bugs out, work some of the nerves out of my system.”
Both of Hurley’s teammates were eliminated in the opening round with Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C. / New York Athletic Club / Princeton) and Hurley’s younger sister, Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas / New York Athletic Club / Notre Dame) finishing 24th and 26th, respectively.
Holmes took on Sera Song (KOR) after a bye into the table of 32 and started the bout with a p-card for both fencers. Song increased her attacks and picked up two singles to end the period with a 2-0 lead. Holmes got on the board in the second with two touches, but Song grew her lead to 5-2. In the final period, Holmes cut Song’s lead to 11-9 and ran at her opponent several times as the clock ran out before Song closed with a 15-12 win.
An individual bronze medalist at the 2018 Senior Worlds and team bronze medalist at the 2012 Games, Courtney Hurley fenced Mingye Zhu (CHN) in the 32 and kept Zhu’s lead to one touch at 4-3 in the first period, but Zhu dominated the second period, 7-4, and doubled at the start of the third to win the bout, 15-8.
The Hurleys and Holmes will return to competition on Tuesday with replacement athlete Anna van Brummen (Houston, Texas / Alliance Fencing Academy / Princeton) for the women’s team epee competition. Team USA won bronze in Barcelona at the final competition before the COVID-19 shutdown and the squad is currently ranked No. 5 in the world.
In the men’s saber event, World No. 2 Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass. / Zeta Fencing Academy / Harvard) came in as one of Team USA’s top medal hopefuls with a silver medal at the 2018 Senior Worlds and seven medals on the World Cup circuit to his credit since his Olympic debut in 2016.
Dershwitz took on a familiar opponent in the table of 32 – Kaito Streets (JPN) who won bronze in team with Dershwitz at the 2013 Junior Worlds before switching his representation to Japan.
Although Dershwitz led the bout, 8-4, at the break, Streets cut his former teammate’s lead to 10-9 in the second period. Dershwitz adjusted, however, and ended the bout with five straight touches and a 15-9 win.
Dershwitz fenced Junghwan Kim (KOR) in the next round who took a 9-8 lead in the second period before ending with a 6-1 run to win the bout, 15-9.
After the bout, Dershwitz said he was “disappointed with my ninth place finish at the Tokyo Olympic Games, but can’t thank all my people enough for the love and support.”
Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y. / Peter Westbrook Foundation / St. John’s) entered as the 2016 Olympic silver medalist and looked set to put on a clinic with a 9-3 lead over Mohamed Aher (EGY) before AHer scored eight of the next nine touches to pull ahead at 11-10. In what would become one of the day’s biggest upsets, Amer finished with a 4-1 run and a 15-11 victory.
“I started out pretty strong and I changed in the middle of the bout for no reason and the score is what you see,” Homer said after finishing 23rd.
First-time team member Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass. / Zeta Fencing Academy / Penn State) went 1-1 in his Olympic debut for a 31st place result.
In the table of 64, Mackiewicz led the first period, 8-5, over Tomohiro Shimamura (JPN), but Shimamura came back in the second period, cutting Mackiewicz’s lead to one at 14-13. Mackiewicz held on for the win, however, finishing the bout, 15-13, to advance to the 32.
“I was pretty relaxed. Coming the first bout, I kind of got the nerves out of the way pretty early on in the day,” Mackiewicz said. “As long as I just have fun and use my voice and show my body language, I thought I was good to go.”
The three-time Senior World Team drew World No. 1 Sanguk Oh (KOR) in the next round and fought hard for the first period, hold the 2019 individual and team World Champion to an 8-6 lead. Oh dominated the second period, ending with a 15-7 victory and going on to win bronze.
“The half was phenomenal. I definitely think I fenced better than I actually was going to in the first half,” Mackiewicz said. “In the second half, I thought the first touch was mine. They didn’t give it to me. After that, it was like a three-point lead for him. I kind of started getting anxious to close the gap, but yeah, after that, you could tell that he was comfortable in the second half, compared to the first.”
Mackiewicz, Homer and Dershwitz will join with replacement athlete Khalil Thompson (Teaneck, N.J. / Peter Westbrook Foundation / Penn State) for the team event on Wednesday. The Americans were ranked No. 1 in the world in 2016 and are hoping for the squad’s first Olympic medal since 2008 when the U.S. Men’s Saber Team won silver.
“I could definitely hear Francesca [Russo], Daga [Wozniak], Mariel [Zagunis]– everyone that’s up there. I love it,” he said. “It definitely helps my inner persona come out, my body language, and I feed off that kind of energy, so I’m really grateful for them to be cheering me on.”
Although the stands had no spectators due to COVID-19 restrictions, Mackiewicz said he appreciated the support of his teammates cheering him on.
Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:
Men’s Individual Saber
1. Aron Szilagyi (HUN)
2. Luigi Samele (ITA)
3. Junghwan Kim (KOR)
4. Sandro Bazadze (GEO)
5. Sanguk Oh (KOR)
6. Kamil Ibragimov (ROC)
7. Enrico Berre (ITA)
8. Ali Pakdaman (IRI)
9. Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass. / Zeta Fencing Academy / Harvard)
23. Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y. / Peter Westbrook Foundation / St. John’s)
31. Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass. / Zeta Fencing Academy / Penn State)
Women’s Individual Epee
1. Yiwen Sun (CHN)
2. Ana Maria Popescu (ROU)
3. Katrina Lehis (EST)
4. Aizanat Murtazaeva (ROC)
5. Vivian Kong (HKG)
6. Federica Isola (ITA)
7. Julia Beljajeva (EST)
8. Rossella Fiamingo (ITA)
12. Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas / New York Athletic Club / Notre Dame)
24. Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C. / New York Athletic Club / Princeton)
26. Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas / New York Athletic Club / Notre Dame)
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