Round of 32
Courtney Hurley faced defending gold medalist Yana Shemyakina of the Ukraine. The fencers scored early simultaneous touches and Hurley trailed by a touch at the end of the first period. Hurley appeared poised and focused and built a 9-7 lead by the close of the second period. Shemyakina put Hurley, who was protecting a one touch lead, on the defensive in the third period and tied the bout with 44 seconds on the clock.
Neither fencer scored a touch in the closing seconds forcing a one minute sudden death overtime. It was Shemyakina who scored the final touch to win the bout 14-13.
Sarra Besbes of Tunisia advanced to the Round of 16 besting her opponent Rayssa Costa of Brazil. Costa had the home crowd advantage earning cheers after scoring touches while the crowd took a dislike to Besbes booing her repeatedly after scoring. Besbes is looking to make history and earn her home country its first medal in fencing.
Nozomi Sato of Japan upset Russia’s Tatyana Logunova 15-14. This is Longunova’s fifth Olympic appearance. She had previously won back-to-back gold medals in the team epee in Sydney and Athens and placed fourth in London.
Round of 64
Canada’s Leonora MacKinnon came out strong and won her match against Simona Pop ending with a 15-10 victory. She will face Rossella Fiamingo of Italy in the Round of 32. Fiamingo is a favorite to win gold.