Mitchell Saron of Ridgewood Secures First Olympic Win, Falls to Number One Seed

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Olympic fencer Mitchell Saron made his hometown of Ridgewood proud this past weekend. Despite entering the tournament as the lowest-seeded American, Saron acquitted himself well, as he was the only male sabre fencer from the U.S. to advance out of the first round. He defeated the hometown hero, Maxime Pianfetti of France, before falling to the number one-seeded Ziad Elsissy of Egypt.

The Parisian crowd vocally supported the hometown hero Pianfetti throughout the contest, but Saron dashed their hopes. He scored six of the first seven points en route to securing the first win of his Olympic career. In the next round, Saron had his work cut out for him against Ziad Elsissy, the number one seed who finished sixteenth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Saron was able to keep the match close but was eventually overwhelmed by the depth of his opponent's experience, losing 15-12. Elsissy would ultimately go on to the bronze medal bout, where he lost to Italy's Luigi Samele.

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The U.S. Men's sabre team, all from Harvard, failed to secure a single medal in the individual tournament. The women fared better, as Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs brought home the gold and silver medals respectively in the women’s foil finals.

Saron’s week is not finished however — he and his Harvard cohorts will attempt to redeem themselves as they open up the team fencing competition against Iran at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 31.

Read more Sports news from around Ridgewood here:

• Ridgewood Native Mitchell Saron Chronicles Olympic Journey on Social Media
• NFL Pro Bowler Younghoe Koo Returns Home to Ridgewood to Host Kicking Camp
• Ridgewood Flag Football: Maroons Go Back to Back, Winning Second Consecutive State Championship Over Wayne Valley

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