Alex Massialas (R) competes against Alessio Foconi of Italy at the FIE Fencing Grand Prix on Dec. 4, 2016 in Torino, Italy.
Alexander Massialas won the silver medal in men’s foil at Sunday’s grand prix in Torino, Italy. It was the third U.S. medal of the weekend after Lee Kiefer and Nicole Ross took gold and silver, respectively, in the women’s tournament Saturday.
Ranked No. 1 in the world, the reigning Olympic silver medalist eliminated a trio of Italians in the first three rounds of the tournament, downing Davide Filippi 15-12 and Andrea Baldini 15-10 before improving his career record against Lorenzo Nista, ranked No. 28 in the world, to 3-0 with a 15-8 victory.
The 2015 world championship silver medalist then dispatched 19th-ranked Alexander Choupenitch of the Czech Republic 15-12 in the quarterfinals and made short work of Korea’s Hyogon Kim (15-6) in the semifinal before dropping a 15-7 decision to world No. 10 Alessio Foconi, the first time he has lost to the Italian in three meetings.
The silver is the fifth career grand prix medal for the two-time Olympian and his second this calendar year after winning gold in June in Shanghai.
