Fares Arfa downs 3-time Olympic champion, earns Canadian best ever fencing result

Fares Arfa isn’t bothered being the underdog, in fact he feeds off of it. Stepping onto the strip for his Olympic debut, Arfa went head-to- head with three-time defending Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi of Hungary in the table of 32, coming away with the 15-8 win.

But it was all in a days work for Arfa at Paris 2024.

“It feels good,” Arfa responded when asked about his upset win. “I came prepared. I came ready to go and I didn’t look at his name […] It doesn’t matter who’s in front of me, it’s a fight first and foremost against myself. So if I stay disciplined, follow the game plan, everything’s gonna work out and it did.”

Asked how he was able to re-focus for his next bout after beating the experienced veteran, the 29-year-old from Laval, Quebec responded, “The trick was we’re allowed to celebrate a little bit. We’re allowed to be happy. I take my time celebrating and then find a way.”

A short time after his upset win, Arfa made his way back to the strip for the table of 16. Arfa knew he was once again facing a higher ranked opponent.

Clearly feeding off his first victory, Arfa, seeded 27th, bounced on to the strip appearing just as hyped as his opponent, the home country favorite and 11th-seeded Bolade Apithy of France. The bout was replete with lunges, quick jabs and plenty of fist pumps by Arfa. The Canadian came out strong and took an 8-3 lead after the first set. Apithy tried to rally the crowd but Arfa was dialed in.

“The more I felt that he was desperate, the more I took advantage of it and I gained energy from that too. He’s tricky, he’s cunning. You have to be careful, get closer. Let him make a move, a mistake and capitalize on it. You shouldn’t jump on him, because it’s not going to work.”

Going on to get another 15-8 win, Arfa advanced to the table of 8.

Less than an hour later, Arfa would take on South Korean third seed Oh Sanguk. Oh came out strong, winning the first two points within seconds of the start. Arfa would rally and make it an highly competitive bout. Plenty of reviewed points and fist pumps by both fencers highlighted the competition.

Arfa, who won gold and bronze at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, was unrelenting answering Oh’s offensive moves with his own powerful and lightning fast extensions and parries. At one point late in the bout it appeared Arfa was primed to surge past Sanguk but a late bout review gave Sanguk a two-point advantage. Sanguk would go on to win the bout 15-13. Arfa’s impressive run places him eighth in men’s sabre at Paris 2024, Canada’s best ever men’s individual fencing result at an Olympic Games. The previous best was a 10th-place finish by Michel Dessureault in men’s individual epee at Los Angeles 1984.

“I had a good time, but more importantly, it was the accomplishment of a lot of work. We had almost a month in France preparing for this and it’s four years. It’s a whole cycle of preparing for the Olympic Games and work paid off.”

Arfa wasn’t the only Canadian who had a big breakthrough on the opening day of fencing competition at Paris 2024.

At just 16 years old, Ruien (Angel) Xiao, is the youngest competitor in women’s epée at the Paris Olympics. The teenager surprised many by beating 2019 World Champion Nathalie Moellhausen of Brazil 15-11 in the table of 32.

Asked how she felt about the win and her first ever Olympic experience, Xiao replied, “It’s honestly nothing that I’ve ever experienced. And, you know, usually fencing doesn’t get a lot of this, like all this hype and all the entire big audience. This is the first time and it’s a bit overwhelming, but we did our best out there.”

Xiao ended her individual epée Olympic run in the table of 16 losing to Ukranian Olena Kryvtska 15-14. Fresh off her first Olympic experience, Xiao is looking to the future.

“Preparing for our next season and, you know, keep competing, get as much experience as I can at a young age and, you know, let’s see where this fencing career can take us.”