PARIS – Harvard men's fencing saw three of its members compete this morning to kick off a historic run at the 2024 Olympics that will see eight members of the Crimson compete in Paris. The men's sabre individual event that included Eli Dershwitz '19, Mitchell Saron '23 and Colin Heathcock '28 completed competition today.
 
Dershwitz and Heathcock both came out on the wrong side of close battles in the opening round of 32. Heathcock fell in his bout against Korea's Park Sangwon, 15-10, while Dershwitz was narrowly defeated by Csanad Gemesi of Hungary, 15-13. 
 
Saron came out victorious in his first Olympic bout, defeating Maxime Pianfetti of the host country France, 15-12 to move on to the round of 16. His run in the event was ended by Ziad Elsissy of Egypt in the next round, falling by a score of 15-13.
 
The trio will have another shot at taking home gold in the men's saber team event – where they will be joined by 2022 NCAA Champion, Filip Dolegiewicz '23 – that will begin on Wednesday, July 31. The quartet will make history, as it is the first time in Olympic history that a weapon team will be comprised of athletes from the same collegiate university.
 
More Harvard fencers will be in action tomorrow, Sunday July 28, during the women's foil individual event. Lauren Scruggs '25 (USA) and Jessica Guo '27 (CANADA) will both compete seeking their first Olympic medals. Incoming first-year Nicholas Zhang (CANADA) will also be in action tomorrow during the men's epee individual competition.
 
Elizabeth Tartakovsky '23 will then make her Olympic debut during the women's saber event for Team USA on Monday, July 29. Follow along on Instagram, Twitter and GoCrimson.com for more updates on the Harvard fencers competing at the 2024 Olympic games.
 

RESULTS

Men's Sabre Individual Table of 32
Park Sangwon (KOREA) def. Colin Heathcock (USA), 15-10
Csanad Gemesi (HUNGARY) def. Eli Dershwitz (USA), 15-13
Mitchell Saron (USA) def. Maxime Pianfetti (FRANCE), 15-12
 
Men's Sabre Individual Table of 16
Ziad Elsissy (EGYPT) def. Mitchell Saron (USA), 15-13