Sports

Nick Itkin of Team USA Wins His First Individual Fencing Medal

Nick Itkin of Team USA Wins His First Individual Fencing Medal

On July 29, 2024, in Paris, Nick Itkin celebrates taking home the bronze in the men’s individual foil at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

PARIS: Olympic athletes excel in many areas, but defeat is not one of them.

In the men’s solo foil round of 16, Nick Itkin, 24, was the single American competitor still standing. Three other Americans had also advanced.

The second-seeded Itkin lost to Italy’s Filippo Macchi in the semifinal round 11–15 to head to the bronze medal match, despite an amazing three-bout winning streak.

The 24-year-old Team USA competitor stated, “I had to get back into it really quickly because I wasn’t losing two bouts in a row.”

That he carried out.

The Notre Dame graduate took the way early in the bronze medal match against Japan’s Kazuki IImura and slowly moved up the standings before winning 15–12 in the end.

Itkin, who is competing in his second Olympics, finished as one of the youngest fencers in the men’s team foil bronze medal and the individual bronze medal.

The two-time NCAA champion said of Paris, “Obviously, I dreamed of a gold medal, but it’s an honor to be able to come out with an individual medal—something I’ve never done before.”

In the men’s individual foil at these Games, the last time an American man placed on the podium was in 2016 when Alexander Massialas, seeded seventh, fell in the round of 16.

Itkin also had three additional years of experience going into these Games, and he had two world championship medals under his belt: a silver in solo foil from 2023 and a bronze and silver in team from 2022.

Before the medal match, Misha Itkin, his coach and father, who competed professionally as a fencer while growing up in the Ukraine, gave him a motivational speech. “It happened and we worked four years for this moment and if you let that last bout carry into the next bout, [you’ll] never forget it,” Itkin remarked, recalling his earlier remarks.

Furthermore, despite the fact that the semifinal match did not go as planned, his father emphasized to him that, “mentally, you just have to forget what happened a minute ago.”

“He has his own notes of what needs to be done against each opponent so he had the chance to go through it a little bit, calm down and [he] stayed focus[ed] and it ended up good,” Itkin’s coach remarked after he used his time well in between fights.

Surprisingly, Itkin had never before competed at the big 8,000-seat big Palais, a popular tourist destination with regular tours, since she was seven years old.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” he remarked in reference to the glass-domed arena in which he fought. This is what the game requires. For fencing, I’ve been dreaming of times like these, and since fencing is expanding so quickly, I believe this is just the beginning.

However, Itkin is already planning for the next Olympics, which will take place in his birthplace, so this bronze medal is not the end for him.

Regarding the next summer Games, he declared, “I have to put on for the city because LA is my hometown.” UCLA is the [athlete] village. Since I live two blocks away, I’m putting a lot of effort into my preparation.

Up until then, Itkin will continue to host the team foil competition, which begins on August 4.

Olympics updates: click on the link below

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button