Italy delivered a standout performance at the foil World Cup in Istanbul, Türkiye, with both Filippo Macchi and Martina Favaretto capturing gold.
Macchi, the 15th-ranked Olympic silver medalist from the 2024 Summer Olympics (Paris, France), scored a commanding 15–8 victory over 90th-ranked Egor Barannikov of _AIN. Controlling the tempo from the outset, Macchi relied on a sharp, aggressive offense to secure his first podium finish of the season.
His path through the 261-fencer field was equally impressive. He dispatched of Kyosuke Matsuyama of Japan 15–8, Miles Chamley-Watson of the United States 15–9, reigning world champion (Tbilisi, Georgia 2025) Ryan Choi Chun Yin of Hong Kong, China 15–11, and Marcello Olivares of the United States 15–3 before overpowering compatriot Tommaso Marini 15–4 in the semifinals.
On the opposite side of the tableau, Barannikov advanced to the final with a 15–12 win over Italy’s 166th-ranked Giuseppe Franzoni, who had earlier produced one of the day’s biggest surprises by edging world No. 2 Guillaume Bianchi 15–14 in the round of 16. Franzoni and Marini shared the bronze medals.
Upsets defined much of the competition, beginning in the round of 64. Third-ranked Alexander Massialas of the United States fell 15–13 to 110th-ranked Grigoriy Semenyuk of _AIN, while France’s Maxime Pauty—a bronze medalist at the 2025 World Championships in Tbilisi—was defeated 15–11 by China’s Lyu Weiqiao. Two-time Olympic champion Cheung Ka Long (Tokyo, Japan 2021, Paris, France 2024) was also edged out, losing 15–14 to France’s Tyvan Bibard.
The surprises continued in the round of 32. Fifth-ranked Alexander Choupenitch of Czechia was narrowly beaten 14–13 by France’s Alexandre Sido, and Egypt’s Abdelrahman Tolba dropped a 15–13 decision to Great Britain’s Jaimie Cook.
Final Rankings – Men’s Individual Foil
Filippo Macchi (ITA, Gold)
Egor Barannikov (_AIN, Silver)
Tomasso Marini (ITA, Bronze)
Giuseppe Franzoni (ITA, Bronze)
Kirill Borodachev (AIN)
Iimura Kazuki (JPN) 7T
Marcello Olivares (USA) 7T
Choi Chun Yin Ryan (HKG)
The second-ranked Favaretto, a bronze medalist at last year’s World Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia, overcame a 14-12 deficit, fending off three match points to defeat her countrymate, the fifth-ranked Arianna Errigo, 15-14. At 14-12, Errigo set up what would have been the winning touch with an attack but missed and Favaretto’s counterattack kept her alive. She scored the gold medal touch on a perfectly timed attack into Errigo’s preparation.
The silver medal represented the 38th World Cup medal for Errigo to go along with 26 Grand Prix medals, 10 World Championship medals and an Olympic bronze in London, England 2012.
Favaretto, similar to Macchi, had a clear path to the finals in the field of 198, with decisive victories over countrymate Elena Tangherlini 15-7, Anita Blaze of France 15-4, countrymate Carlotta Ferrari 15-12, yet another countrymate Anna Cristino 15-10, and Vladislava Peniushkina of _AIN 15-4 in the semifinals.
In the other semifinal, Errigo handily defeated Pauline Ravier of France, the World Championship silver medalist (Tbilisi, Georgia 2025), 15-5.
Both Peniushkina and Ranvier earned bronze medals.
The major upset in the women’s field was the elimination in the round of thirty-two of the top-seeded two-time defending Olympic Champion (Tokyo, Japan 2021, Paris, France 2024) and current World Champion (Tbilisi, Georgia 2025) Lee Kiefer at the hands of the 76th-ranked Anna Soloveva of _AIN.
Final Rankings – Women’s Individual Foil
Martina Favaretto (ITA, Gold)
Arianna Errigo (ITA, Silver)
Pauline Ranvier (FRA, Bronze)
Vladislava Peniushkina (AIN, Bronze)
Anna Cristino (ITA)
Carolina Stutchbury (USA)
Nagase Rino (JPN)
Kata Kondricz HUN)