France and Italy Dominate Individual Events in Antony
The individual stages of the 2026 European Fencing Championships concluded at the Éric Tabarly Sports Complex after three days of high-octane action, dramatic upsets, and home-crowd celebrations. Across all six weapons, the championships showcased a shifting landscape in European fencing, punctuated by vintage masterclasses, breakthrough milestones, and historic title defences.
Epee: Katrina Lehis and Simone Mencarelli Rule the Strips
The individual epee events delivered a mix of heavyweight dominance and fairytale runs:
- Women’s Individual Epee: Estonia's world number one Katrina Lehis solidified her status as the absolute favourite for the upcoming World Championships by dominating the field. After surviving a tense opening priority minute, Lehis found her peak form, dispatching world number four Eszter Muhari (HUN, bronze) and comfortably defeating Germany’s Alexandra Ehler 15-11 in the final. Ehler’s silver marked a brilliant career resurgence, while Paris 2024 Olympic team bronze medallist Alicja Klasik (POL) claimed the second bronze.
Men’s Individual Epee: Italy's Simone Mencarelli claimed his maiden continental title. Mencarelli navigated a brutal bracket, including a narrow 11-10 victory over teammate Andrea Santarelli and a 15-14 semi-final thriller against Denmark's Conrad Seibaek Kongstad (bronze). In the final, Mencarelli halted the sensational run of Israel's world number 127 Alon Sarid, who took a historic silver. Belgium’s Neisser Loyola claimed the second bronze.
Sabre: Lucia Martin-Portugues and Jean-Philippe Patrice Take Emotional Golds
The sabre events brought electric domestic rivalries and shocking individual upsets to the fore:
- Women’s Individual Sabre: Spain’s world number twelve Lucia Martin-Portugues orchestrated a masterful run to capture the continental crown. She saved her finest performance for the final, breaking through the defence of world number one and Rio 2016 Olympic Champion Yana Egorian (AIN, silver) to claim a 15-13 victory. Ukraine’s Alina Komashchuk earned her second consecutive European individual medal with bronze, alongside France’s Toscane Tori, who delighted the home crowd with a career-first individual international podium.
- Men’s Individual Sabre: The home crowd was treated to a spectacular all-French final characterised by an intense tactical battle of long attacks. World number five Jean-Philippe Patrice captured the gold medal over compatriot Maxime Pianfetti (silver) with a 15-13 victory, upgrading his consecutive bronze medals from 2024 and 2025. Romania’s George Dragomir enjoyed a historic breakthrough bronze after stunning world number two Sandro Bazadze, while 2017 World Champion András Szatmári (HUN) turned back the clock to take the second bronze.
Foil: Historic Milestones and Home-Town Heroes
The foil competitions concluded the individual programme with unpredictable results and massive momentum shifts:
- Women’s Individual Foil: Ukraine’s world number twenty-seven Olga Sopit provided the biggest surprise of the foil events by capturing her first senior international title since 2024. Sopit displayed impeccable timing to soundly defeat Italian fencing legend Arianna Errigo 15-8 in the final. Despite the defeat, Errigo’s silver marked her historic ninth individual European podium. Spain’s Maria Marino secured a brilliant individual bronze, alongside Vladislava Peniushkina (_AIN).
- Men’s Individual Foil: France's Rafael Savin ignited the local spectators by winning a thrilling gold medal. Facing Poland's in-form Andrzej Rzadkowski (silver) in the final, Savin trailed early before unleashing a furious second-period comeback, relying on lightning-fast counter-attacks to win 15-10. Anton Borodachev (_AIN) claimed bronze after a shocking 15-3 quarterfinal blowout of Tommaso Marini, while Italy's ultra-consistent Tommaso Martini rounded out the podium with the second bronze.
With the individual champions crowned and the baseline of elite form established, the 2026 European Championships now turn their attention entirely to the high-stakes team disciplines in Antony.
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