Foil, Individual, Women

The total domination of the event by Italian fencers had continued unabated since the 2004 Games. Italians had won all 3 World Championship titles and 7 of the 12 available medals since then and a medal sweep at Beijing seemed not merely possible but highly probable. So it was no great surprise when the Italian trio of two-time defending champion Valentina Vezzali, Atlanta champion Giovanna Trillini and former World Champion Margherita Granbassi breezed past their opposition and into the semi-finals. The one spanner in the works was the presence of Korean Nam Hyeon-Hui who was ranked 3rd in the world. Vezzali duly booked her place in the final with a win over Granbassi but the dream of an all-Italian final ended when Nam defeated the veteran Trillini. The final was a cautious low scoring affair with Vezzali’s early lead being pegged back by the Korean. With 40 seconds to go Nam took the lead for the first time but the Italian levelled and, with four seconds remaining, scored the decisive score to ensure she won her third successive Olympic title. Granbassi defeated Trillini for the bronze medal. Vezzali would win a fifth successive Olympic medal in this event when she took bronze in 2012.