'The Avengers'' True'Veteran!" Koo Bon-gil won the 男 Sabres' individual competition for the first time in six years

Oct 11, 2024

Happy Gu Bon-gil

'New Avengers eldest brother' Koo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Foundation) won the gold medal in the individual competition at the National Sports Festival for the first time in six years.

Koo Bon-gil, who represented Seoul, won the 105th National Sports Festival fencing men's sabre individual finals held at Namhae Gymnasium in Gyeongnam on the 11th, beating Lim Jae-yoon (National Sports Unit, Chungbuk) by a score of 15-8.

Old Road, 'roaring'

Koo Bon-gil, who led his juniors such as Oh Sang-wook, Park Sang-won (Daejeon City Hall), and Do Kyung-dong (Daegu Association) to achieve his third consecutive victory in the men's sabre team event at the Paris Olympics last summer, showed the veteran's true value in his return home turf and sports. Oh Sang-wook, who won two individual and team competitions at the Paris Olympics, was struck 14-15 by ambush Kim Joon-hyung (Dongui University in Busan) in the first match of the preliminary round, and Koo Bon-gil reached the final without shaking. In the semifinals, Do Kyung-dong, a junior who played an active role in the team event at the Paris Olympics 'Game changer', was turned 15-10, and then climbed to the top with an overwhelming performance in the final.

The only fencer to have team gold medals at the London, Tokyo, and Paris Olympics.

Koo Bon-gil is the only player to have all three team gold medals, joining his seniors and juniors in London in 2012, Tokyo in 2021, and Paris in 2024. In London, he played with outstanding seniors such as Won Woo-young, Oh Eun-seok, and Kim Jung-hwan as the `Youngest On Top', and in Tokyo, he was loved as the `Flower Handsome Avengers' along with Kim Jung-hwan, Kim Jun-ho, and Oh Sang-wook. In Paris, he won his third gold medal with outstanding juniors such as Oh Sang-wook, Do Kyung-dong, and Park Sang-won. The spirit of the gold medal continued into a physical event. He regained the individual gold medal for the first time in six years since 2018, shaking off the regret of losing to Oh Sang-wook in the final of the National Sports Festival last year. Koo Bon-gil is trying to win two gold medals in the team event on the 13th.

Gu Bon-gil interviewing before leaving Paris

Meanwhile, the final of the women's sabre individual event held on the same day was a one-man battle between the 'Sung' who led the team to the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. Jeon Ha-young (Seoul Metropolitan Government) beat Choi Se-bin (Jeonnam Provincial Government) 15-4 to win the gold medal.

sky4us@sportschosun.com