Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk /Rafał Oleksiewicz /PAP
Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk, making her Olympic debut and at the same time the highest ranked Polish woman – fifth in the world ranking – defeated the Frenchwoman Ysaora Thibus, who was ranked low due to doping issues, but is one of the best foil fencers of recent years, 15:12 in the 1/16 finals.
The next rival of the four-time Polish champion was the 14th in the world Canadian Eleanor Harvey, who had a positive fight record of 2-1 with the three-years-younger Pole.
In Paris she improved it even more, being the dominant side from the first seconds of the duel. The Pole could not find the right rhythm and way to hit the Canadian, who was able to exploit every weakness of her opponent. The Polish foil player did not have much to say and lost 6:15.
On Saturday, three Polish fencers also competed in Paris without success. On Monday, the last day of individual competition, three foil fencers will compete on the board.
Team competitions will be held from Tuesday. On the first day, the epee fencers will compete, while the foil fencers will wait until August 1st – they will start the tournament with a quarterfinal match against the Japanese.
