The Tunisian champion Fares Ferjani won, on Saturday July 27, 2024 the silver medal in individual male saber competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, offering Tunisia and the Arab world their first medal of this edition of the Games.
In an intense and disputed final, Ferjani, 27, faced the South Korean Oh Sang-Uk, ranked third in the world. Despite a courageous performance, the Tunisian bowed with a score of 15-11. However, this defeat did not tarnish the brilliance of his remarkable career during these games.
Before climbing in the final, Ferjani had managed to overcome a major obstacle by eliminating the world number one, the Egyptian Ziad El-Sisi, with the same score of 15-11. Ziad El-Sisi, himself a formidable opponent, then lost the meeting for the bronze medal.
This success is part of a family tradition dedicated to fencing. Farejani has grown up in a family where fencing is more than a sport: it is a shared passion. His brother Mohamed Ayoub represented Tunisia in Fleuret at the Rio 2016 Games, while his other brother Ahmed brilliantly contributed to saber in many international competitions. Their father Salah served fencing as an international arbitrator, and their mother and their uncles and cousins were all involved in various sports, testifying to the rich sporting heritage of the Ferjani family.
