History made: Eleanor Harvey wins Canada's 1st-ever Olympic fencing medal with bronze

Canadian fencer Eleanor Harvey has won Canada's second medal of the Paris Olympics, capturing bronze in the women's individual foil on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Calgary residenttopped Italy's Alice Volpi 15-12 for the win, which marks Canada's best-ever finish in an individual fencing event.

Harvey's aggressive start paid off with the 12th-ranked Canadian chalking up the first three points of the match.

The No. 3-seed Italian battled back and cut the deficit to 6-3 before Harvey replied with a series of strikes that gave her a 9-4 lead heading into the second round.

Volpi was ferocious to start the middle frame, scoring six straight points to level the score at 10-10.

Harvey continued to fight and, when the referee confirmed she had scored the decisive point, she dropped to her knees.

"It feels weird, but it feels cool," she told CBC Sports about being the first Canadian to win an Olympic fencing medal. "Honestly, there are a ton of really good fencers from Canada. I was the first medallist, but I won't be the last."

WATCH | Harvey wins historic medal for Canada:

Eleanor Harvey claims bronze for Canada's 1st-ever Olympic fencing medal

2 months ago

Duration 29:12

Eleanor Harvey of Hamilton, Ont., bested Alice Volpi of Italy in the women's foil individual bronze medal bout to claim Canada's first-ever Olympic medal in fencing.

Swimmer Summer McIntosh won Canada's first medal of the Games a silver in the women's 400-metre freestyle on Saturday.

Lauren Scruggs of the U.S. beat Harvey 15-9 in the semifinals and will battle fellow American and reigning Olympic champion Lee Keifer for gold later on Sunday.

"I feel like I'm in a dream," Harvey said."I feel like somebody spiked my drink or something. That's a joke. Sorry, I'm not funny right now. I'm in shock."

She paid tribute to her mother for the sacrifices she made in allowing Harvey to chase her dream.

"She pretty much paid for all the fencing when I was younger, before I had any support, by herself," Harvey said."She had to sell her house to afford to send me to tournaments, and we had to move in with my grandma. My grandma would sleep on a couch, so that I could have a bed. So it's not just my mom."

Canada making waves

Canadian fencers, not known for contending for Olympic medals, have been making waves in Paris.

On Saturday, Fares Arfa of Laval, Que., upset three-time defending Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi of Hungary in men's sabre competition before narrowly losing to eventual gold medallist Oh Sang-uk of South Korea in the quarterfinals. That was the best Olympic result by a Canadian fencer until Harvey topped it a day later.

Earlier, Harvey posted a 15-14 come-from-behind victory over fourth-seeded Italian Martina Favaretto in the quarterfinals. She also beat Poland's Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk 14-6 in the Round of 16 and China's Wang Yuting 12-8 in the opening round.

WATCH | Hear from Eleanor Harvey after her landmark medal:

Fencing bronze medallist Eleanor Harvey speaks to CBC Sports after her historical achievement

2 months ago

Duration 3:30

Eleanor Harvey of Hamilton, Ont., looks back at her fencing bronze medal in women's individual foil at Paris 2024.

Paris marks Harvey's third Olympics. She finished seventh in women's individual foil at Rio in 2016 and came fifth in women's team foil at the Tokyo Games.

Harvey was a silver medallist in both the individual and team foil events in her third Pan Am Games last year in Santiago, Chile.

In other Round of 16 results, Toronto's Jessica Guo was defeated 15-11 by Scruggs and Yunjia Zhang, also from Toronto, fell 15-5 to Hungary's Flora Pasztor.

Also on Sunday, Nicholas Zhang of Richmond, B.C., lost 15-11 to Venezuela's Grabiel Lugo in the opening round of the men's epee.

Kiefer earns 2nd Olympic gold

Lee Kiefer won back-to-back gold medals in foil fencing and her teammate Lauren Scruggs took the silver Sunday to make history as the first Black fencer to win an Olympic medal in an individual women's event for the United States.

Kiefer won 15-6 in the final against Scruggs and celebrated by pirouetting down the piste in joy.

The vocal crowd in the cavernous Grand Palais was a huge contrast to the hushed, empty venue in Chiba, Japan, where Kiefer won her first Olympic gold three years ago under pandemic restrictions.

WATCH | Harveybecomes first Canadian Olympic fencing medallist:

Eleanor Harvey receives Canada's 1st ever Olympic fencing medal

2 months ago

Duration 0:39

Elenor Harvey of Hamilton, Ont., is presented with her fencing bronze medal in women's individual foil at Paris 2024.

Kiefer's gold medal is the fifth of all time in an individual event for a U.S. fencer. She follows Mariel Zagunis in 2004 and 2008 as the only American fencers to win gold in the same event twice.

There hadn't been an all-U.S. final in an Olympic fencing event since 2008, when Zagunis beat Sada Jacobson in saber as part of an American podium sweep. Before that, the last time it happened was in 1904.

Eleanor Harvey became the first Canadian ever to win an Olympic fencing medal when she beat Alice Volpi of Italy 15-12 for the bronze.

France's Yannick Borel was facing Japan's Koki Kano for the men's epee gold medal. Mohamed Elsayed won the bronze for Egypt 8-7 in overtime against Hungary's Tibor Andrasfi.