Cordobaists Jakub Jurka, Martin Rubeš, Jiří Beran and Michal Čupr sensationally won bronze in the team competition at the Olympic Games. In the match for third place, they defeated the world number one French 43:41. Jakub Jurka was the hero of the duel, just like in the quarter-finals against the second team of the world, Italy, who turned the score against the home star Yannick Borel in the final duel on the board in the packed Grand Palais.
Updated
Paris
20:36 2. 8. 2024 (Updated: 22:28 2/8/2024)
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Corduroy athletes celebrate bronze from the Olympic Games | Photo: Albert Gea | Source: Reuters
“The boys and I said to each other when we entered the stage at the Grand Palais and the whole audience saw us: ‘Well, no matter how it turns out, this is the greatest experience of our lives’. Against the home team in front of their home crowd and at the Olympics for a medal…, nothing could be bigger. Whether it’s gold, silver or bronze, it doesn’t matter,” the hero of the day, Jurka, told Czech journalists.
“Everyone must have courage. When everyone looks at us as we opened the medal harvest, colleagues and friends will continue. That was also a challenge for us, that they offered us this deferred glove,” Jurka commented on the first specific Czech medal in Paris won before the final duel of Kateřina Siniaková and Tomáš Macháč.
In Paris, the Czech team lost only to defending champion Japan, who won the semi-final 45:37. The 42-year-old Beran said goodbye to his career after winning the Olympic medal. The oldest member of the Czech team in Paris added a bronze to the third places in the individual and team competition at the European Championship.
Bronze Farewell
The 42-year-old Beran said goodbye to his career after winning the Olympic medal. The oldest member of the Czech team in Paris added a bronze to the third places in the individual and team competition at the European Championship.
“For me it’s a golden point, even though it’s bronze. It’s something unreal. I wanted to say goodbye under five rings, the season was terribly demanding. It’s truly a dream come true with this bunch. I will remember it till the day I die. When I hear Paris or get here, I’m just going to cheer,” said Beran.
By winning bronze, the corduroy team equaled the Olympic maximum of Czech fencing. At the 1908 Games, saber fencers won individual and team bronze. Three years ago, Alexander Choupenitch followed them up with a third place in Tokyo in foil.
In the duel with the French, the Czechs held the lead in a stormy atmosphere after three partial duels, but then the opponent started to have the upper hand. However, he did not make it into a bigger blockbuster. After Beran’s last appearance in his career, they were leading by only two points, and the Czech team was also kept within reach by the substitute Čupr, who stepped in for Rubeš in the penultimate match and handed Jurek the “baton” with a four-point deficit during his debut on the Olympic board at the age of 32.
Olympic silver medalist in the individual competition and former world champion Borel scored the first hit against the former junior world number one. But then the 25-year-old Jurka, who was the only one of the Czech trio to win a match in the individual competition in Paris, repeatedly showed why the team uses him in the position of the so-called “closer”. He also managed seven hits in a row and then defended himself against the opponent’s desperate attempt for a turnover.
Jurek’s Phantom
Jurka was also the main character in the quarter-final duel. He went into the decisive fight with David di Veroli with an unfavorable score of 29:30. After winning 14:8, he secured an unexpected advance to the semi-finals.
“We went to the World Cup with them twice. We lost by two hits in Milan. Then in Vancouver we also led (in the fight) for the semi-finals and lost in the end. Today the plan didn’t change, but unlike the previous ones, we all put our hearts into it, we didn’t give up until the very end. They felt it and the atmosphere of those races, I think, half ground them. We also got up incredibly and overcame them,” said Jurka.
The Czechs were not without a chance even against the Japanese, with the champion of the individual competition, Koki Kane. Beran even gave them a 22:21 lead in the seventh match. Kano didn’t give Rubeš a chance after that, and after his partial win 6:1, the Japanese led 27:23 before the final fight. Jurka again showed a good finish, he managed to turn the score around and still led 34:33 with 49 seconds left. In the end, however, Masaru Jamada was better.
“I probably should have behaved differently, but after a battle everyone is a general. But I probably wouldn’t have it any other way. He was fired up and kept hitting me on the left side, leg and thigh. I was so immersed in the tactics that I wasn’t sure if any change would disrupt the flow of the match,” Jurka told Czech journalists.
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