St. John's University Athletics
Homer Earns Silver In Men's Saber At Rio Olympics
8/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
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RIO DE JANIERO - Daryl Homer took home the silver medal for men's individual saber on Wednesday night to become the first Red Storm alum to claim an Olympic medal since, Homer's idol, Keeth Smart took silver in the team saber competition at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
It's the second time at the 2016 Summer Olympics that an American fencer earned a silver medal, the first coming from Alexander Massialas in the men's foil individual competition. It's just the fourth time a U.S. man had earned an Olympic medal in individual saber and the first since 1984.
U.S. saber coach Yury Gelman, also the head coach of St. John's fencing played an integral part in guiding Homer to his silver medal, by sharing advice during the breaks and between bouts.
The first round opponent for the 10th-seeded Homer was Ilya Mokretcov of Kazakhstan who is ranked No. 39 in the world for men's individual saber.
Homer was off to a fast start in the bout against Ilya Mokretcov, taking four of the first five touches before Mokretcov came back to tie it at 4. The Bronx, N.Y., native stormed right back going on a 4-1 run to take an 8-5 lead. Homer stretched the lead to five when it was 13-8 and then went on to win, 15-11, to advance to the table of 16.
In the next round, facing a more difficult opponent in seventh-seeded Max Hartung of Germany Homer fell behind early, 4-1. Homer came right back to tie it at 5 scoring some touches with his famous technique called the flunge (flying lunge).
The rest of the hard-fought bout went back and forth, as each fencer exchanged touches until it was tied at 12. The four-time All-American, Homer took the control of the rest of the bout taking the next three touches to win, 15-12, and advance to his second-straight Olympic quarterfinal.
Facing another talented German fencer Matyas Szabo who is ranked No. 25 in the world, Homer dominated the first period of play getting out in front with an 8-2 lead.
Szabo performed better in the second period to only trail Homer, 13-10. The No. 10 ranked player in the world Homer came through with huge touches at the end to deliver a, 15-12, victory to move ahead to his first career Olympic semifinal.
Homer's next test was against the 15th ranked saber fencer Iran's Abedini Mojtaba and the St. John's alum started off slow falling behind, 6-3. Homer made some in bout adjustments to go on a 5-0 run to take an 8-6 lead at the break.
After Homer took a 12-9 lead, Mojtaba won the next three touches to tie it up at 12. Each fencer exchanged touches until it was tied up at 14, where the winner of the next point would have a chance to win a gold medal. Homer delivered once again taking the final touch of the bout to move to the finals and guaranteed himself an Olympic medal.
In the finals, the reigning 2012 London Olympics gold medalist in men's individual saber Aron Szilagyi of Hungary was up against Homer. Szilagyi is the No. 3 ranked saber fencer in the world and was the fourth seed entering the competition.
Homer found himself down early, as Szilagyi took the first three touches of the bout. Homer struggled in the first period and was down, 8-4, at the break.
After Szilagyi went on a 6-2 run, Homer tried to make a comeback scoring the next two touches to cut the lead to 14-8 before coming up short on the final touch to give Szilagyi the, 15-8, victory.
For more information about the Red Storm at the 2016 Rio Olympics, follow @StJohnsRedStorm and join the conversation by using the #RedinRio.
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