Paris Olympic 2024 Foil Fencer 🤺 🥇

This is the third time that Paris has been the host city for the Olympic Games, having previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1900 and 1924. Since 1924, Paris has applied three times to host the Olympics in 1992, 2008, and 2012, but lost to Barcelona, Beijing, and London respectively. It wasn't until 2017 that Paris finally succeeded in its bid.

The medals for the Paris 2024 Olympics were designed by Chaumet, a luxury jewelry brand under the LVMH group. Each medal is embedded with a small fragment from the Eiffel Tower that was removed during its renovation. This allows every winning athlete to own a piece of this iconic French landmark, making the medals highly commemorative.

Cheung Ka Long, SBS (English: Edgar Cheung Ka Long; born June 10, 1997), is a Hong Kong men's foil fencer and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He is known as the "Young Sword God" and the "Hong Kong Sword God." In April 2016, he won his first Asian Fencing Championships title, becoming Hong Kong's first-ever individual champion in the competition. Cheung won gold in the men's individual foil event at both the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics, making him the second Hong Kong athlete to win an Olympic gold medal after Lee Lai Shan. He is also the first male athlete from Hong Kong to win an Olympic gold medal and, along with Siobhan Haughey, is the second Hong Kong athlete to win medals at two different Olympic Games (the first male athlete to do so). Cheung is also Hong Kong's first athlete to win gold in consecutive Olympic Games, earning him the nickname "Hong Kong Sword God" from local netizens. Additionally, Cheung is the third fencer in Olympic history to successfully defend his title in men's individual foil, following Nedo Nadi at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics and Christian d’Oriola at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

In the previous Tokyo Olympics, Cheung Ka Long won the gold medal in the men's individual foil event and entered the Paris Olympics as the 4th seed, aiming to defend his title. Known as the "Sword God," Cheung faced increasingly tough opponents and advanced to the gold medal match, where he faced the 11th seed, Italian fencer Filippo Macchi. In a closely contested final, Macchi reached match point first with a 14-12 lead. However, Cheung held his nerve and scored two consecutive points to tie the match, forcing a "sudden death" situation. After two controversial decisions, the final bout turned into a "best of three," and Cheung ultimately secured victory with a 15-14 "sudden death" win over Macchi. This victory not only earned Hong Kong its second gold medal of the current Olympics but also made Cheung the third man in Olympic history to successfully defend his title in men's foil, following French fencer Christian d’Oriola's achievement in 1956, marking the first such feat in 68 years!