France, the ‘host nation’ and ‘fencing king’, lost the semifinals of the men’s sabre team event against South Korea by protesting instead of fencing. The only thing that came out of it was irritation and ridicule from the referee when they scored a point when there was a huge gap in level.

The South Korean men’s fencing sabre team advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s fencing sabre team event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a 45-39 victory over France at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on Aug. 31 (KST).

South Korea’s men’s team sabre team won gold medals at London 2012 and Tokyo 2020. Team fencing is a rotating event at the Olympics, but there was no sabre team event at Rio 2016. At Paris 2024, they will be looking to win their third consecutive team title.

The South Korean national sabre team is ranked No. 1 in the world. Despite the retirement of Kim Jung-hwan and Kim Jun-ho from the Tokyo Olympics squad, newcomers Park Sang-won and Do Kyung-dong have been outstanding, and the presence of Oh Sang-wook, the men’s individual sabre gold medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has made them the favorites to win the title.

But their semifinal opponents, France, were no pushovers. As the host nation and world champions in fencing, they had the support of a huge French 사설 토토사이트 crowd. In fact, the first runner, Park Sang-won, went 2-5 to give the French the momentum.

However, when the reigning sabre individual gold medalist Oh Sang-wook came out to play the second game, the momentum shifted completely. He won the second game 8-2 to make it 10-7. Both Koo Bon-gil and Park Sang-won then found their pace and extended the gap to 20-9.

The French players then loudly protested to the referee. France’s Afiti continued to spread her arms in protest and even took a ‘protest time’ to face the referee after her turn. The next runners also protested in turn and made mocking remarks.

In response, SBS announcer Jung Woo-young said, “It’s ridiculous to say something like this on stage. I don’t think children should learn from this,” and pointed out the French athletes’ behavior.

France eventually fell to South Korea. The pride of the fencing world champions and hosts of the 2024 Paris Olympics fell to the ground. The French were outclassed by South Korea in both manners and skill.