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PARIS – The Harvard Men’s Fencing Team had three athletes compete this morning, beginning a historic run at the 2024 Olympic Games, where eight members of the Crimson team will compete in Paris. Eli Dershwitz (’19), Mitchell Sallon (’23), and Colin Heathcock (’28) competed in the men’s individual sabre competition and completed competition today.
Both Dershwitz and Heathcock lost their opening round 32 matches in close matches, Heathcock losing 15-10 to Park Sang-won of South Korea and Dershwitz narrowly losing 15-13 to Csanad Gemesi of Hungary.
In his first Olympic match, Sallon defeated France’s Maxime Piampetti 15–12 to advance to the round of 16. His winning streak in the tournament came to an end in the next round when he lost 15–13 to Egypt’s Ziad El-Sissi.
The trio will once again have a shot at the gold medal in the men’s sabre team competition, which begins on Wednesday, July 31. They will also be joined by 2022 NCAA champion Filip Dregiewicz (Class of ’23). The foursome will make history, as it will be the first time in Olympic history that athletes from the same university make up a sabre team.
More Harvard fencers will compete tomorrow, Sunday, July 28, in the women’s individual foil competition. Lauren Scruggs (Class of ’25) (USA) and Jessica Guo (Class of ’27) (Canada) will both be competing for their first Olympic medals. Freshman Nicholas Chan (Canada) will also compete tomorrow in the men’s individual epee competition.
Elizabeth Tartakovsky, 23, will make her Olympic debut in the women’s sabre as part of Team USA on Monday, July 29. For the latest updates on Harvard fencers competing in the 2024 Olympics, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and GoCrimson.com.
result
Men’s Sabre Individual Table 32
Park Sang-won (South Korea) defeated Colin Heathcock (USA) 15-10.
Csanad Czemesi (Hungary) def. Eli Dershwitz (USA), 15-13
Mitchell Sallon (USA) defeated Maxime Piampetti (France) 15-12.
Men’s Sabre Individual Table of 16
Ziad El-Sissi (Egypt) defeats Mitchell Sallon (USA) 15-13