Northwest Wayne News

PARIS -- Former Wayne State University All-American fencer Ziad Elsissy competed in his second Olympics this past week, while incoming freshman Mahmoud Elsayed made his Olympic debut earlier today.

Elsissy, who finished 14th in the men's sabre at the Tokyo 2020 (2021) games, began the 2024 Olympics with a 15-11 triumph over Argentina's Pascual Tella. In the round of 16, he posted a 15-13 victory over USA's Mitchell Saron. Elsissy then edged Germany's Matyas Szabo 15-14 to reach the semifinals. He dropped a 15-11 decision to Tunisia's Fares Ferjani, followed by a 15-12 setback to Italy's Luigi Samele in the bronze medal match. Samele was the silver medalist in Tokyo in both individual and team competition after earning a bronze medal in team competition in London (2012). Elsissy concluded the individual competition with a 3-2 mark and was even in touches (68-68).

In his previous Olympics in Tokyo, Elsissy helped the Egyptian men's sabre team place fifth. This past Wednesday in Paris, Elsissy led the Egyptian men's sabre team to a sixth-place finish. In the 45-41 setback for Egypt against France, Elsissy won all three of his bouts by a combined score of 19-7 (5-1 over Sebastien Patrice, 5-2 over Maxime Pianfetti, and 9-4 over Bolade Apithy). In the relegation semifinal match vs. Canada, Elsissy suffered a 6-5 setback to Olivier Desrosiers and a 5-3 loss to Fares Arfa. Heading into the ninth and final round with Egypt trailing 40-37, Elsissy recorded an 8-1 triumph over Shaul Gordon to give Egypt a 45-41 victory. In the placement match vs. Italy for fifth place, Elsissy posted victories of 5-3 over Samele and 5-2 over Pietro Torre before tying Luca Curatoli at five touches each in the final bout as Egypt trailed overall by seven points.

Freshman Mahmoud Elsayed, younger brother of former WSU fencer Ahmed Elsayed, was selected as an alternate for the men's team epee competition by the Egyptian Fencing Federation.

Mahmoud was subbed in after three of nine rounds against France in their quarterfinal match-up (France being top-seeded and Egypt seeded eighth). After falling narrowly to Yannick Borel (5-4), he secured a win against Romain Cannone (9-5) as Egypt lost overall by six points (45–39). In subsequent matches against Kazakhstan and Venezuela for lower placements, Mahmoud had mixed results: he tied Ruslan Kurbanov but lost other bouts as Egypt fell short.

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