PARIS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan overcame seven-time winner Italy to clinch its first-ever men's foil team gold at the Paris Olympics as the fencing competition ended on Sunday.
Japan led in the first two bouts, before silver medalist of the individual event Filippo Macchi outscored Kyosuke Matsuyama to put Italy ahead after the third bout.
Yudai Nagano came off the bench and smashed Italy's substitute Alessio Foconi 5-0, giving Japan a six-point lead into the final bout. Kazuki Ilmura held off the nerves against world No. 1 Tommaso Marini en route to a 45-36 victory, winning Japan's maiden Olympic gold in this category.
Tokyo gold medalist France took the bronze with a 45-32 victory over the United States.
"It's not the medal of only four guys. It's the medal of all a population," said Enzo Lefort. "We're ready to do everything we have to, to win together or lose together. That's the beauty of our team."
Fourth seed China, consisted of Chen Haiwei, Mo Ziwei, Xu Jie and Wu Bin, lost to France 45-35 in the quarterfinal, before defeating Canada 45-32 and Poland 45-30 to finish fifth.
"I didn't handle the pressure well against France," said Mo. "Especially in terms of tactics and techniques, there's still a lot for me to learn."
Japan topped the fencing medal standings with two golds, one silver and two bronzes, followed by the United States on 2-1-1 and South Korea on 2-1-0.
