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On July 28^th, former Waseda University Fencing Club member Koki Kano won a gold medal in fencing during the Men’s Épée Individual event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, defeating the French fencing hero, Yannick Borel 15-9 in the final match. This marked the first win in an individual category for fencing in the history of Japan, making it a historical victory for alumni of Waseda University. (Featured image provided by Kyodo News)

* Épée is a fencing event in which points are awarded by landing a attack on an opponent anywhere on the body.

Koki Kano as he strikes like an arrow with a move called “flèche” (right) (picture provided by Kyodo News)

Borel stands at 195 centimeters, 94 kilogram while Kano stands at 173 centimeters, 64 kilograms. Without being affected by the 20-centimeter height difference, Kano, who rarely uses preparation before attacking, scored point after point. Kano also unleashed his signature move, “flèche,” in which he leaps out and thrusts the blade like an arrow toward his opponent. With his quick movements he outmaneuvered Borel, widening the gap in points in an overwhelming display.

This was Kano’s second gold medal. He secured his first in the Fencing Team Épée event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The last time a Japanese athlete obtained a medal in individual fencing was 16 years ago at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, at which Yuki Ota received a silver medal.

Koki Kano posing in celebration after scoring a point (right) (Picture by Kyodo News)

A comment from Waseda University President Aiji Tanaka

Congratulations to Koki Kano on his gold medal in fencing in the Men’s Épée Individual event.
In 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, you were the anchor on the team that won the gold medal in the Team Épée event. This time you are standing at the top of the individual division. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the effort and hard work you put into achieving this goal and I would like to offer you my sincerest congratulations. I have great expectations for your future and hope for your continued success.

A comment from Kiyotaka Horii, coach of the Waseda University Fencing Club

I would like to offer my sincerest congratulations to Koki Kano on securing the gold medal, the first gold medal in the history of Japanese fencing for the Men’s Épée Individual event.
In both the pen and the sword, Kano worked extremely hard while he was at Waseda, and through that hard work and effort, he now stands at the top. His success contributes to the global goal and dream we all share. He is the pride of Waseda University’s Fencing Club and will be an encouragement to all the future club members at Waseda.
I have great expectations for him in the team competitions and will cheer for him with everything I have. I hope for his success.

Waseda University Fencing Club Coach, Kiyotaka Horii

Athletes who competed against Kano and match results
Fencing – Men’s Épée Individual: Koki Kano (2020 Graduate of the School of Sports Sciences and alumni of the Waseda University Fencing Club), Gold Medal

T32 14-12 Jaewon Kim (South Korea)
T16 15-4 Zijie Wang (China)
Quarter Final 15-6 Ruslan Kurbanov (Kazakhstan)
Semi-final 14-13 Tibor Andrasfi (Hungry)
Final 15-9 Yannick Borel (France)