By Janina Nuno Rios
PARIS (Reuters) – Ukraine claimed the gold medal in the women’s sabre team event as they rallied to edge South Korea in a thrilling final bout at the Paris Games on Saturday.
Olga Kharlan, who won individual bronze and Ukraine’s first medal in Paris, put on a brilliant performance to lead her team to a comeback win for the country’s first gold at the 2024 Games.
Backed once again by an ecstatic Grand Palais crowd, Kharlan scored 22 touches in total to earn her sixth Olympic medal and the second gold in the event for Ukraine after winning in 2008.
Ukraine also tied the two gold medals won by the Russians at the 2016 and 2021 Games, while former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko praised the stunning triumph.
“Steel nerves! Incredible skill! A very intense competition, a fight to the very last seconds, great work of our athletes. Crazy emotions, a historic result,” he wrote on X.
Earlier, Japan also earned their first medal in the event as they overcame top-ranked France in the bronze medal bout.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
