Canada falls to Japan, misses out on bronze medal in women's team foil
Harvey outscores opponent 3-1 in final relay, but comeback effort wasn't enough
In the end, Eleanor Harvey and Canada were only short by a touch.
On Thursday, the fencing team missed the bronze medal in the women's team foil competition at the Paris Olympics by the slimmest of margins, losing to Japan 33 to 32 despite a valiant comeback effort from Harvey that fell just short.
The match came down to the final seconds. Canada entered the ninth and final bout down by three, and Harvey could not fully close the gap despite outscoring her opponent three touches to one in an aggressive final relay.
The athlete from Hamilton said the final seconds of the match left little room for complex strategy.
"There's no time to, like, really prepare an action," she said. "You just have to go for it and hope for the best."
The United States won the gold medal match, out-fencing runner-up Italy by a score of 45 to 39.
Despite Thursday's result, Harvey has already made Canadian history at the Paris Games, winning Olympic bronze in the women's individual foil. It was Canada's first-ever Olympic medal in the sport.
Harvey said she didn't feel pressure heading into the match, despite the earlier medal and the fact that, at 29, she's a decade or more older than her teammates.
"We always talked about it before, just saying that we win as a team, we lose as a team," she said. "There's no blame."
In a team event each member of a three-person team fences three times — once against each opponent — for a total of nine, three-minute bouts. The winner is the first team to reach 45 points or the team with the most points at the end of the final rally.
Japan pulled ahead by a single point in the fourth bout and widened its lead in the fifth, when Japan's Yuka Ueno scored four touches to one by Toronto's Yunjia Zhang.
The lead proved too big to overcome, despite strong later performances by Harvey and Toronto's Jessica Guo that narrowed the gap.
The crowd that packed the Grand Palais was rapt, alternately roaring encouragement and falling so silent that the only audible sounds were the squeaks of the fencers' shoes and the clicks of the blades. Ueno closed out the win against Harvey, falling to her knees in celebration before hugging her teammates.
'In the end of the day there's nothing to lose'
Zhang, who is making her Olympic debut in Paris at 16 years old, said she doesn't feel like the Canadian team had anything to lose heading into the match.
"We worked so hard for this, we prepared so much," she said. "In the end of the day, there's nothing to lose. I love my team."
She said she's learned lessons from her first Olympic experience, including having the right mindset to handle the pressure.
"When you're in the moment, don't see Olympics as that much of a big deal," she said. "We all made it here, just live in the moment, focus on your current touch."
The result caps off a successful week for Canada, which is not traditionally a fencing power but has found itself in the running for several events.
In addition to Harvey's bronze and Thursday team result, Fares Arfa of Laval, Que., upset three-time defending Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi of Hungary in the men's sabre competition last week before narrowly losing to eventual gold medallist Oh Sang-uk of South Korea in the quarterfinals.
Harvey credits women's foil coach Alex Martin for helping the team get stronger, in addition to being "such a supportive person and coach." She said both Martin and fellow coach Jed Dupree have also helped with confidence.
She believes that Canada's fencing future is bright, noting that her teammates Zhang and Guo are still in their teens.
"They're just going to keep getting stronger," she said. "And I think I will too. I'm still getting better as well."
