Olha Sopit wins historic European fencing gold for Ukraine
The 23-year-old topped her pool stage, winning four of six bouts on her way to the playoffs. She automatically qualified for the round of 16 and then won five straight elimination matches en route to the title.
Sopit opened her run with a 14–7 win over Austria's Lilli Maria Brügger. After beating Poland's Marta Jakubowska 15–7, Sopit faced fellow Ukrainian Daria Myroniuk in the quarterfinal and edged her 12–11.
After reaching the semifinals and securing a medal, Sopit defeated Spain's Maria Marino, the reigning team bronze medalist, 15–8. In the final, she faced highly decorated Italian Arianna Errigo, Olympic team champion from London 2012 and two-time individual world champion.
In the final, Sopit came back from a two-touch deficit, tying the score at 7–7. She then delivered a seven-touch streak to take control at 13–7 and closed out the bout 15–8 to win gold.
What Olha Sopit's medal means
This is Sopit's biggest career victory. She previously won two World Cup medals — a silver and a bronze in 2024. Ukraine has never before won a European Championship title in women's foil. The country's previous best individual result was Daria Myroniuk's silver medal in 2024.
It is Ukraine's second medal at the 2026 European Fencing Championships, following Alina Komashchuk's bronze in women's saber.
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19 of June 2026
