Jeong-Hyun Yoon wins bronze medal in men's fencing at the Asian Games... It was the first time in 8 years

(Tokoname [Japan] = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Dong-han = Yoon Jeong-hyeon (25, Hwaseong City Hall) won the first medal for the Korean fencing team at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, continuing the streak of men's foil individual medals that had been broken for eight years.

Jeong-Hyun Yoon, ranked 32nd in the International Fencing Federation (FIE) rankings, won the bronze medal by losing 13-15 to Ryan Choi (world No. 7, Hong Kong) in the men's foil semifinals at the competition held at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 22nd.

In the individual fencing competition, there is no separate bronze medal match, so both players who lost in the semifinals are awarded bronze medals.

It has been eight years since Son Young-ki (bronze medal) at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games that a Korean athlete won a medal in the men's individual foil event at the Asian Games.

Yoon Jeong-hyeon, who met with reporters after the game, said, "I think they think very generously that I have revived the legacy. I am not at that level yet," and added, "The men's foil performance is poor, and if I can contribute, I want to do my best to improve it."

Jeong-Hyun Yoon defeated Jeon Yi-dong (Taiwan) 15-4 in the round of 16, and advanced to the semifinals by defeating Daniil Kravtsov (Uzbekistan) 15-5 in the quarter-finals.

He competed equally against Choi, the individual winner of last year's World Championships, but was unable to overcome the final hurdle and was unable to advance to the finals.

Jeong-Hyeon Yoon said, "I thought it would be a very difficult match because my opponent was the world's No. 1 player just a few months ago," and added, "I think confidence and momentum are very important in fencing, but I think I was pushed out of my momentum and dragged by my opponent without realizing it."

Jeong-Hyun Yoon, who has been active as an adult national team member since the 2023-2024 season, succeeded in winning the FIE World Cup individual event for the first time in his life at the Cairo World Cup in Egypt in March last year and won a bronze medal.

He also won a bronze medal in the individual event at last year's Asian Championships, establishing himself as a new star in Korean men's foil.

Jeong-Hyeon Yoon was introduced to fencing while living in Russia as a teenager with his father, who was a Russian expatriate for a company.

Although he started fencing relatively later than other elite athletes, he quickly narrowed the gap with other athletes through his efforts.

He said, "I first started fencing in Russia, and I saw potential. I thought it would be a good idea to continue my career as an athlete in Korea, and I ended up continuing it in Korea as well."

He then said with a smile, "I wanted to do Taekwondo because I really like sports, but the tuition for Taekwondo in Russia was a bit expensive. In fact, fencing was cheaper, so I ended up taking up fencing."

On the 25th, Jeong-Hyun Yoon will participate in the men's foil team event along with Gwang-Hyun Lee, Cheol-Woo Lim, and Tae-Hwan Kim.

The next goal is to win three consecutive team events following the 2018 Jakarta/Palembang Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

He emphasized, "I was worried about whether I would be able to win a medal until I went to bed last night, but I think I was lucky. There is a men's foil team event in a few days, so I want to show as much as I can that I couldn't show today. I think I saw my potential here. I want to prepare hard until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics."