🇫🇷 FRENCH MASTERY IN SALT LAKE CITY: OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS CLAIM TEAM GOLD
Updated: Aug 5
SALT LAKE CITY, USA — 25 JANUARY 2026
The reigning Olympic Champion French Women’s Sabre team asserted their dominance on the world stage, capturing their first World Cup title of the season in Salt Lake City. The top-seeded squad—featuring individual gold medallist Sarah Noutcha, Sara Balzer, Manon Apithy-Brunet, and Toscane Tori—overcame a strong Korean challenge in the final to improve on their bronze-medal finish from the season opener in Algiers.
Korea took the silver medal, maintaining their position at the top of the season rankings after their gold in Algiers. China secured their first podium of the campaign with a bronze-medal finish, while Japan recorded their best result of the season so far, finishing fourth.
Path to the Podium
France displayed the tactical depth of a championship side throughout the day. After efficient victories over AIN and Bulgaria, they controlled their semi-final against China to win 45-39. The final against Korea proved to be a test of resilience; the Koreans stormed to an early 15-9 lead after the first three legs. However, the French rallied in the middle third, turning the deficit into a 30-27 lead. They maintained this momentum in the closing bouts, outscoring Korea 15-10 to secure the 45-37 victory.
Korea (Jeon, Kim, Seo, and Choi) reached the final after a pulse-pounding 45-44 semi-final win over Japan. In that match, Japan held a six-point lead early on, but the Koreans clawed back to lead 40-36 entering the final leg. In a dramatic anchor bout, World number one Misaki Emura levelled the score at 44-44 for Japan, before Jeon Hayoung found the winning touch for Korea.
China (Pan, Rao, Wei, and Zhang) earned their bronze by defeating Japan 45-33 in the third-place play-off. While the match was tightly contested through the first six legs, the Chinese team broke the encounter open in the seventh bout, where Zhang delivered a 5-0 shutout against Sano. China never looked back, cruising to a comfortable twelve-point victory to secure their first medal of 2026.
Japan (Emura, Kikuchi, Ozaki, and Sano) reached the final four after a nail-biting 45-44 quarter-final victory over the host nation, USA. Despite two consecutive one-touch matches, they were unable to find the same spark in the bronze-medal match against a clinical Chinese side.
