🇮🇹 RIZZI EDGES CANDASSAMY IN THRILLER TO CLAIM WOMEN'S EPEE GOLD IN VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER, CANADA - 6 DECEMBER 2025

Veteran Italian fencer Giulia Rizzi (ITA), 36, secured the third World Cup title of her career, winning the Women's Individual Epee event in Vancouver. The World Number 3 overcame a challenging field of 200 fencers and clinched a dramatic victory in the final against 2023 World Champion Marie-Florence Candassamy of France with the tightest of scores, 13-12.

Candassamy (FRA), 34, claimed the silver medal, reaching her fourth career World Cup final. Despite a spectacular tournament run that included fighting through the preliminary rounds, the French World Champion just missed out on her first World Cup gold in the agonisingly close final bout.

The bronze medals were shared by Lim Taehee of Korea and Eszter Muhari of Hungary. Lim (KOR), 23, earned her first-ever senior international medal after a strong performance that started in the preliminary stage. Muhari (HUN), the 23-year-old World Number 7 and Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist, secured the other bronze after a tight semi-final defeat.

Path to the Podium

Rizzi's path to the gold required resilience. She won two incredibly close bouts, including a 10-9 victory over Von Kerssenbrock (FRA) and a tense 15-14 win over Tang (CHN), before comfortably defeating Lim (KOR) 15-8 in the semi-final to set up the final clash.

Candassamy, who had to fence the first day's preliminary rounds, delivered an exceptional performance, defeating the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Katrina Lehis (EST) 11-9, and then narrowly overcoming Muhari 10-9 in her semi-final bout.

Lim Taehee's bronze was notable, having started in the poule stage before defeating Olympic and World Championship medallist Alberta Santuccio (ITA) 15-4 in the quarter-finals. Muhari, who had a bye to the round of 64, secured her medal by defeating Bavuge Khabimana (AIN) 15-13 in the quarter-finals.

The final was a tense, defensive battle between Rizzi and Candassamy, with the Italian ultimately finding the deciding touch to secure the 13-12 gold medal victory.

Full results from the Vancouver Women's Epee World Cup are available here.