Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Friday September 6, 2024 at 8:49 a.m.
Thanks to the foil fencers Ludovic Lemoine, Damien Tokatlian and Maxime Valet, wheelchair fencing won its first medal, bronze, in these Paris Paralympic Games.
The French Paralympic fencing team finally won its first medal at the Paris Games on Thursday. After disappointing individual events, but also collectively, like the elimination in the quarter-finals of the foil girls, who were angry about the refereeing, it was their male counterparts who won the bronze. Ludovic Lemoine, Damien Tokatlian and Maxime Valet ended up dominating Italy (45-36), while they were up to five lengths behind before finishing very strongly. They had overcome Japan in the quarter-finals (45-32), then were outclassed by the British (25-45), beaten in the final by the Chinese (34-45).
“The magic of the Grand Palais”
For the oldest Tokatlian (54 years old), it is a fourth Paralympic medal in team foil after the silver won in London, then the bronze in Rio, Tokyo and therefore Paris. Lemoine (38 years old) and Valet (37 years old) have won a third medal, and it is not the least desired. Especially after this scenario which saw the Blues being led 15-20 at the start of the fifth round. And everyone praised the contribution of the public, who never stopped pushing them during this confrontation against the Transalpines. “The magic of the Grand Palais” therefore worked as their coach, Jean-Loup Boulanger, pointed out, in tears after this first podium for French wheelchair fencing.
“We won on the track, they won in the stands, we all won together!” reacted Valet, quoted by Le Parisien. And then this medal that they say is the last because they are stopping after these Games to make way for others, it is necessarily the best because it is at home and it would have hurt to leave it.” They now hope that this medal will call for others for the French camp, starting Friday.
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