Tunisian fencer Fares Ferjani narrowly missed out on becoming Africa’s first gold medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, securing silver in the men’s individual sabre after a hard-fought final against South Korea’s Oh Sanguk.
Ferjani, 27, was defeated 15-11 by the South Korean fencer at the Grand Palais in Paris. Seeded 13th, Ferjani achieved a remarkable victory over world number one, Ziad Elsissy, in the semi-finals but could not replicate the upset against Oh in the final.
Born in Tunis and based in New York, Fares Ferjani finished 22nd at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and 25th at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. His best prior result in individual sabre at the senior world level was an eighth-place finish at the World Championships in Wuxi, China, in 2018.
Ferjani’s silver medal adds to Tunisia’s impressive Olympic history, bringing the nation’s total to 16 medals (five golds, four silvers, and seven bronzes) since it first competed as an independent nation at the Rome Olympics in 1960.
This year, Tunisia dispatched its smallest Olympic delegation in 20 years, with just 26 athletes qualifying for Paris, a significant drop from the 63-member team that competed in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Ziad Elsissy of Egypt faced further disappointment, losing the bronze medal match to Italy’s Luigi Samele, who won 15-12. Elsissy, however, will have another opportunity to secure a medal when Egypt begins their team sabre campaign on Wednesday.