Men's Individual Epee

The Americans fencing in men’s epee were Seth Kelsey and Soren Thompson. Thompson lost 4-15 in the round of 32. Kelsey, though, won in the round of 32 and the round of 16.

Seth Kelsey v. Fernandez in quarters.

Kelsey fleched for the first point. Fernandez attacked to Kelsey's torso. Fernandez was awarded the next touch on an opposition parry, but Kelsey asked for video, and the touch was ruled nothing done. Then there was a double touch, Fernandez's attack and Kelsey's counter attack. Then Kelsey scored. Fernandez's attack and Kelsey's counter attack did not land, then Kelsey's attack did. Double touch. Kelsey was ahead at 5-3 at break.

Kelsey started the second period by landing a counter attack. Then a double touch. Kelsey attacked, and Fernandez's counter attack landed but Kelsey's attack didn't. Then double touch, with Kelsey attacking. 6-8. Fernandez attacked, and his attack landed. Kelsey attacked, and Fernandez displaced down for a double touch. Kelsey fleched to go up 10-8, and then his next attack landed. Both fencers stayed pretty high, and they each bounced a little bit. Kelsey was ahead 11-8 to end the second period.

Kelsey scored the first point of the final period on a fleche. Fernandez attacked, and the attack missed, but Kelsey's counter landed. 13-8. Fernandez called for a halt and asked for a doctor -- he lunged and aggravated something. After a couple of minutes with ice, he got back up, and they started fencing again. Fernandez's attack didn't land, but Kelsey's counter did. 14-8. Fernandez attacked and got a hit. 9-14. Kelsey attacked with 10 seconds left in the period to win 15-9. Kelsey was the first American going through to the semis in a fencing event this Olympics.

Earlier in the day, Kelsey defeated the world #1, Nikolai Novosjolov, 15-11. The world #2 also lost in the round of 16, and the #3 lost in the quarters. #s 4 and 5 lost in the round of 16... lots of highly ranked fencers lost. The people remaining have the following rankings (some of these might be slightly off):

Ruben Limardo Gason -- #18

Jung Jinsun -- #9

Bartosz Piasecki -- #47

Seth Kelsey -- #25

 Seth Kelsey's semifinal against Limardo Gascon. Kelsey was playing with distance really well, and he was the first to attack, forty-five seconds in. 1-0. Limardo tried to attack and missed -- I think fleched and missed, but Kelsey didn't land a counter, either. Then ther ewas a simultaneous, Kelsey's attack and Limardo's counter. 2-1. Limardo attacked and tied it. he lowered his epee right before attacking, then brought it up and disengaged. Limardo was staying lower and more turned in. Both fencers bounced a lot. After Limardo's last attack, they didn't even really come into distance again, instead staying just out of it.

Limardo keeps his right hand well in front of him, whereas Kelsey keeps his left hand out to his side, as is more normal.  After 1:03 of fencing in the second period, passivity leads to it automatically becoming the third period. Still 2-2. Finally, they engage, Limardo misses a touch, and then he gets a sort of opposition parry. 3-2. Kelsey's attack is short, but then his remise and Limardo's counter both land. 4-3. Limardo's attack was short, and Kelsey lands a counter attack to tie the score. Kelsey attacked and Limardo's block parry knocked Kelsey's blade off target, and then Limardo's counter landed. Kelsey was definitely becoming more agressive in an attempt to win. He got the next touch. Tied at 5. 30 seconds remaining in regular time... and still tied at 5 at the end of regular time.

Extra time! With 32 seconds remaining, Limardo fleched, and Kelsey's counter attack was too late. Limardo's celebration was ridiculously huge, and he advanced to the final. Kelsey still had a chance to medal in the bronze match.

The Jung v. Piasecki semi.

Piasecki is a lot taller than Jung. Jung attacked, and Piasecki's opposition parry for a counter landed. 1-0. Jung attacked, fell short, but his remise landed to tie. Attack and counter both landed for a double touch. 2-2. Piasecki is almost all leg. Jung was much lower down, even just in amount of knee bend. Jung got another point on a stop hit, and Piasecki's attack hit, too. Piasecki fleched, very controlled, but both hit. 4-4. Another double. Jung looked like he tried to surprise Piasecki at the end of the period by backing off and then coming in really quickly with small, fast advances, but Piasecki just retreated calmly, and at 5-5, it was the end of the period. Though there's a lot of playing with distance and waiting in this bout, too, it was going at a much faster pace than the previous semi.

Jung's attack landed to start the second period. Piasecki fleched to tie the score at 6. Piasecki lunged long in a counter attack to Jung's upper back, and Jung's attack was no. 7-6. Piasecki's remise of his counter attack landed. Jung displaced down and hit Piasecki's torso. 7-8. Both men lunged, and only Jung hit; Jung turned to avoid Piasecki's tip. Jung fleched, and double touch. 9-9. Piasecki's attack landed to put him ahead. Jung had missed a couple of stop hits at this point, but then he got one to Piasecki's arm to tie at 10. The end of the period was sort of ridiculous -- Jung extended his epee three times and sort of shook it, and each time Piasecki beat it.

Jung looked pretty agressive at the beginning of the third period, but it was Piasecki who attacked first and got hte first hit. Jung was out of distance on an attack to the foot, and then attack and counter attack both landed. Jung had moved the bouting over to Piasecki's side of the strip, but Piasecki fleched and scored. 13-11. Piasecki seemed content to draw Jung back and then attack. This time it was just a long lunge to right under Jung's bib. They started beating a lot. Piasecki attacked slightly out of distance, and Jung's stop hit landed. 12-14. Piasecki lunged, but again his attack missed, this time too long, and only Jung's counter attack landed. Piasecki beat Jung's blade then lunged in to win, 15-13.

No Norwegian and no Venezuelan had ever medaled in fencing, and one of them would have a gold medalist in men's epee.

Bronze medal match. Seth Kelsey and Jung Jinsun of Korea.

Kelsey fleched and Jung countered, 1-1. Both men were bouncing quickly, right around distance, taking some swipes at each other, but not committing. Kelsey attacked, and then Jung also got a counter. 2-2. Jung fleched to Kelsey's non-weapon arm underarm, and no counter landed. 3-2. Another double touch. Jung also tried that jumping forward and down into a squat that I've seen from some of the women. Lots of blade contact and missed contact. 4-3, Jung ahead, was the score going into the break.

Jung started the next period with an attack. 5-3. Kelsey fleched, and both his fleche and the counter hit. 6-4. Jung kept faking to Kelsey's foot, but Kelsey isn't responding much to the feints, then he was acting more like he might actually try to go for the toe touch. Jung lunged was out of distance, tried to remise but didn't really move his feet, and Kelsey easily got the counter. Jung then got a toe touch (finally), though Kelsey challenged -- it even looked like it might have been the strip. But the call was confirmed 7-5. Jung fleched, Kelsey got an opposition parry high, and then landed the riposte. 6-7. Kelsey attacked, and then Jung's stop hit also landed. 7-8, and that's the score at break.

Kelsey's plan as recommended by his coach in the third period was to push, but then wait for Jung's attack and get a parry riposte or a counter. Jung was feinting a lot, and Kelsey was really just waiting. He started pushing some. Another double touch. And yet another double. Kelsey paused too long between the two parts of the compound, it looked to me. Once again, Kelsey attacked, and again Jung countered. Jung attacked, low to Kelsey's torso -- why? And then Kelsey got a stop hit, and he's a lot longer than Jung, so one light. 11-11. The fencers, with about 33 seconds left in the 3rd period, started to not fence. With thirteen seconds left, the ref called noncombativity. Immediately to extra time.

Kelsey had priority, so he just had to be on defense. Double. Jung thought he had it, but two lights. Jung attacked, Kelsey parried and riposted, but Jung's attack still landed. Double. Jung, after all this feinting to the toe, got a toe touch, and ] it was the one touch Kelsey wasn't prepared to defend. Jung won, 12-11.

The men's epee gold medal bout.

Limardo and Piasecki. Piasecki's first attack was parried by Limardo, but the riposte didn't land, and Piasecki's remise to  Limardo's leg did. Then Limardo got a touch on a fleche. Piasecki attacked, a lunge using all of his very long legs. 2-1. Limardo fleched yet again. Piasecki attacked, but Limardo got the stop hit and got out of the way. 3-2. Limardo fleched again, but this time Piasecki got the counter. If he can keep getting the counter, he can make Limardo's fleche far less dangerous. 4-3 was the score at the first break.

The first touch of the second period was Limardo's fleche, which actually occurred after Piasecki's attack was short. I'm not sure how it wasn't a double touch -- Piasecki's blade slide off, and he should have been able to just hold it steady and get the counter. Then Limardo fleched again, and Piasecki still didn't get the counter. 6-3, and I honestly think LImardo could fleche his way to a gold medal. Limardo fleched again, but this time he turned his hand upside down, almost into a 1-parry, to hit at the bottom on Piasecki's torso. And once again, Limardo's fleche. 8-3. Piasecki doesn't know what to do. Part of his problem that time was that he had attacked to the top of Limardo's arm, bounced off, and then his tip was way past Limardo. Limardo fleched again, as an attack instead of a counter, and and Piasecki did get the counter. 9-4. Once again, Limardo used a fleche as a counter, this time after a block parry. Yet another fleche. 11-5. Piasecki pushed and attacked, and Limardo did something that looked fleche like, but he never actually went into the air, he just put  his weight in his front foot and leaned forward. Double touch. 12-6. That's the score at the end of the second period.

Limardo started the third period with -- guess what! -- a fleche. Actually, two fleches. 14-6. Then Piasecki actually got a point on an attack. Good for him. And then Limardo...fleched. But Piasecki turned, and the fleche slid past his shoulder, and Piasecki's counter landed. Once again, Limardo fleched, but Piasecki's counter came before Limardo's fleche landed because he again tried the parry-1-like position. And again Limardo's fleche as a counter of sorts, but it didn't land, and Piasecki's hit had already landed. 10-14.

And then Limardo won. With a fleche. Well, technically a beat attack, but he fleched. 15-10.

Venezuela's first gold medal since the Mexico City games in 1968.