🇺🇦 OLGA SOPIT STUNS WORLD ELITE TO CAPTURE HISTORIC EUROPEAN FOIL CROWN

ANTONY, FRANCE — 17 JUNE 2026

Ukraine’s world number 27 Olga Sopit authored a resounding, historic masterpiece of offensive precision on the second day of the 2026 European Fencing Championships, capturing her maiden senior individual continental title. Competing at a packed Éric Tabarly Sports Complex, the 23-year-old Kyiv native shattered the tournament hierarchy, capping off a spectacular run by confidently defeating one of the sport's most decorated legends, world number 8 Arianna Errigo of Italy, with an emphatic 15–8 victory in the gold medal final.

Sopit's golden triumph stands as a monumental milestone, representing the first-ever European Championship individual gold medal in the history of Ukrainian women's foil. The victory also marks her first senior international medal of any kind since 2024.

While Errigo captured her unbelievable ninth career individual European medal to take home silver, Spain's Maria Marino and Individual Neutral Athlete Vladislava Peniushkina stood proud as the bronze medallists.

Path to the Podium

Olga Sopit (World number 27) navigated her qualifying pool with four wins out of six before finding a lethal, high-tempo rhythm in the direct elimination phases. After an opening first-round bye, she systematically neutralized Austria's Lilli Maria Brugger 14–7 and out-pointed Poland's dangerous Cairo World Cup bronze medallist Marta Jakubowska 15–7.

Her definitive test came in a heart-stopping all-Ukrainian quarter-final match-up against world number 21 Dariia Myroniuk, the 2024 European silver medallist. Trailing late, Sopit engineered a spectacular comeback to knot the bout before sealing a dramatic 12–11 victory on priority in the extra minute. She then cruised past Spain's Marino 15–8 in the semi-finals before deploying brilliant distance control to stun Errigo in the grand finale.

Arianna Errigo (World number 8) showcased her unparalleled, legendary longevity by marching into the final to claim a masterful silver medal. The multi-time Olympic and World Champion now possesses an extraordinary individual European Championship record of three gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

After a first-round bye, Errigo dominated Romania's Maria Dinca 15–6 before winning a high-intensity 15–13 round-of-16 blockbuster over teammate and 2025 World bronze medallist Elena Cristino. In the quarter-finals, Errigo out-lasted Hungary's Kata Papp 15–13, avenging world number one Martina Batini, whom Papp had stunned in the prior round. Errigo then stopped Peniushkina 15–11 in the semi-finals before finding herself out-paced by Sopit's speed.

Maria Marino (World number 60) celebrated an incredible individual breakthrough to clinch a hard-earned bronze medal. Having been a key pillar of Spain's bronze medal-winning ensemble at last year's championships, Marino translated that team success onto the individual stage.

The Spaniard systematically broke through her bracket, routing Slovakia's Cantucci 15–6, upsetting Poland's seasoned Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk 15–13 and commanding a 15–4 masterclass against Ukraine's Alina Poloziuk. She booked her podium spot with a dramatic 15–14 quarter-final triumph over Hungary's 2025 European bronze medallist Flora Pasztor, safely yielding her a piece of history before running into the Ukrainian buzzsaw.

Vladislava Peniushkina (World number 52) continued her phenomenal, highly consistent international season by capturing a fully deserved bronze medal under the AIN banner. Following up on the brilliant bronze medal she won at the Istanbul World Cup earlier in the season, Peniushkina received a round-of-64 bye before advancing past Kontochristopoulou and commanding a 15–9 win over Germany's Carlotta Morandi.

Her signature moment of the tournament came in the quarter-finals, where she executed an exceptionally smart 15–11 tactical upset over world number 15 Marta Martyanova, herself a bronze medallist at both the Hong Kong World Cup and Shanghai Grand Prix this year, to comfortably punch her ticket to the podium.

Full results are here.