Good morning!
The Round of 32 began at about 1:00am PST with American fencers facing opponents from China and Germany. Soren Thompson was seeded No. 11 and his teammate Seth Kelsey was seeded No. 17 before the round began.
Seth Kelsey drew Chinese fencer Li Guojie knowing that if he won the match, he would face World Champion Nikolai Novosjolov of Estonia in the Round of 16. Novosjolov did not have to compete in the Round of 32.
Soren Thompson drew German Joerg Fiedler who was seeded No. 22, but had been No. 2 in the world in 2011 and 2010. The German’s 2012 competition has been “lackluster” according to NBC which led to his being seeded so low at the Olympic Games.
Remember the Olympic Creed?
“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
Our favorite Olympian Soren Thompson fought well, struggled and unfortunately was defeated by his German opponent. We hope you join us in congratulating him on taking part, on making his very best effort and on being a great example of an Olympian. We also hope to see him again in 2016 in Rio!
Seth Kelsey will be our focus for the rest of today. Seth defeated his opponent from China and moved on to No. 1 seed Nikolai Novosjolov. Needless to say, Seth was an underdog in this Round of 16 match.
Seth defeated Novosjolov 15-11 in the Round of 16 and moved on to the Quarter-Finals!
When I woke up this morning, Seth’s Quarter-Final match was on TV live, which I did not expect. It was a replay, but because they are covering Mariel Zagunis (2008 Gold Medalist, Women’s Sabre), it was a great time to replay Seth’s match, especially since he was not really expected to advance against the World Champion.
I think Seth is going to get a lot more coverage today, too!
Why? Because he won his Quarter-Final match against Silvio Fernandez of Venezuela 15-9 and moves on to the Semi-Finals, 1 win away from an Olympic medal. I will have some biographical information on Seth for my update at 9am.
We hope you will come back at 9:30 PST for our liveblog of the rest of the Men’s Epee competition!
This is so exciting!
07:54 PST Mariel Zagunis advances to the Women’s Sabre Semi-Final in a fantastic match! She is definitely having a great day!
08:15 PST Dagmara Wozniak defeated in her Quarter-final Sabre match, but she came back strong at the end, it was very close. Great match Dagmara!
09:16 PST Almost time for the Men’s Epee Semi’s!
09:30 PST Seth Kelsey vs. Limardo Gascon of Venezuela Seth scored a hit!
09:34 PST Tied 2-2
09:37 PST This takes a lot longer than Sabre!
09:38 PST Straight to the 3rd period due to noncombativity!
09:39 PST Limardo goes ahead by 1
09:40 PST Tied 3-3
09:40 PST Tied 4-4 Yikes!
09:41 PST Kelsey drawn in by Limardo, VZ by 1, one minute to go!
09:24 PST Tied 5-5
09:43 PST Going to sudden death!
09:44 PST Limardo Gascon goes to the Gold Medal Round, Kelsey will hope for a Bronze.
09:45 PST Fantastic effort from Seth Kelsey who kept it tied up until sudden death!
Back in 15 minutes for the other Semifinal match!
10:01 PST Piasecki of Norway vs. Jung of Korea, Piasecki ahead by 1
10:03 PST Tied 2-2, simultaneous hits score for both in Epee
10:04 PST Another double hit, Tied 3-3
10:05 PST Tied 4-4
10:06 PST Another double hit 5-5
First period time is up.
10:08 PST Piasecki up 7-6
10:09 PST Piasecki up 8-6
10:10 PST Jung scores, Piasecki by 1
10:10 PST Tied 8-8
10:11 PST Jung takes the lead, 9-8
10:11 PST Piasecki ahead 10-9
10:13 PST Tied 10-10, they conspired to waste a few seconds to get a break for water, that was funny!
10:15 PST 12-11 Piasecki, getting close to 15!
10:16 PST 14-11 Piasecki, one hit from a medal!
10:17 PST Jung scores a hit 14-12
10:17 PST Jung again, 14-13
10:18 PST PIASECKI WINS! He will fence Limardo Gascon of Venezuela!
Seth Kelsey will fence Jung for the Bronze!
Back later with the Medal Rounds!
Hi, again! No Norwegian and no Venezuelan have ever medaled in Epee so whatever the result, it will be a historic event!
They are starting with the Bronze Medal match in just a moment, between American Seth Kelsey and Jinsun Jung of Korea.
11:11 PST Double score, 1-1
11:12 PST Epee was a dueling weapon. Another double score, 2-2
11:13 PST Jung ahead, 3-2
11:14 PST Jung ahead 4-3
11:15 PST In Epee, the whole body is a target. Time called.
11:16 PST Jung, 5-3
11:17 PST Double hit, 6-4
11:18 PST Kelsey coming back 6-5
11:19 PST Back to Jung 2 up, 7-5
11:20 PST Kelsey got a hit, Jung 7-6
11:21 PST Jung, 8-7 on a double hit
Break at 8-7, Jung. This is exciting! In that last point, I swear Kelsey would have been decapitated in a real old time fight!
Final period starting now.
11:24 PST 9-8 on a double hit
11:25 PST Get in there, Seth! Love his yellow shoes! Another double hit, 10-9. Those are fine till you get close to 15.
11:27 PST Kelsey tied it up! 11-11
11:27 PST 22 seconds left. Nailbiting time! 1 Priority Minute, priority to Kelsey!
11:28 PST Double hit! No points!
11:29 PST Another double!
11:30 PST Jung defeats Kelsey. Well, he was definitely the underdog, but I wish we were competing as a tam. The US Team are currently World Champions in Epee. Congratulations to Jung and Korea on the Bronze!
A lot of upsets today, Mariel Zunigas also lost the Bronze Medal Round in Sabre. But we are back to cover the Men’s Epee Final between Norway and Venezuela!
12:03 PST The Norwegian is 6’5″, the Venezuelan is 5’9″
12:04 PST Piasecki takes the first point
12:04 PST Tied at 1-1
12:05 PST Piasecki, 2-1
12:06 PST 2-2
12:06 PST Limardo-Gascon takes the lead 3-2
12:07 PST Double hit, everyone gets a point
12:08 PST Break, end of period.
12:09 PST Still 4-3 at the start of the 2nd period. Limardo-Gascon gets a hit! 5-3
12:10 PST A historic win for either country. Who will it be? Limardo up 6-3
12:11 PST Limardo with another point, 7-3
12:12 PST Five unanswered hits by Limardo, 8-3
12:12 PST Both score on a double
12:13 PST Piasecki had better get in there. Nope, 10-4 Venezuela
12:14 PST 11–4, then a double, 12-6, I missed one somewhere.
12:14 PST There has never been a South American individual fencing medal, nor a Norwegian and they are both going to medal whatever happens.
Break at the end of the 2nd period.
12:16 PST 13-6, Venezuela
12:16 PST Another hit for Limardo, one hit from a Gold Medal.
12:17 PST Piasecki finally gets another hit
12:17 PST And another for Piasecki
12:17 PST Piasecki again, catching up
12:17 PST And another, 14-10, sheesh!
12:18 PST Limardo wins Gold for Venezuela! Congratulations!
We hope you have enjoyed our live coverage of the Men’s Epee Competition from the London 2012 Olympic Games! See you again for the Paralympics with Fencer Gerardo Moreno!