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Alexander Massialas (USA) celebrates after facing off against not-pictured Artur Akhmatkhuzin (RUS) during men's fencing competition in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Carioca Arena on Aug. 7. (Photo: Dan Powers-USA TODAY Sports)
RIO DE JANEIRO — Alexander Massialas came as close as any American man has come to winning a gold medal in the modern era of fencing but couldn’t quite close the deal.
Instead it was silver for Massialas, a Stanford engineering student ranked No. 1 in the world, who lost 15-11 in the championship round to Italy’s Daniele Garozzo.
The result was a fairly significant upset as Garozzo, ranked 11th, had lost three consecutive matches to Massialas, including 15-13 in June at a tournament in Shanghai.
Massialas, who grew up in San Francisco learning the sport from his three-time Olympian father, took the year off from college to train for these Olympics in an attempt to maximize the promise he showed in London when he finished 13th as the youngest member of the entire U.S. Olympic delegation.
He came to Rio favored to win the gold but had to settle for a different kind of history as the first American medalist in men’s foil since 1960.
Massialas needed an epic comeback in the quarterfinals just to make the medal round, down 14-8 to Italy’s Giorgio Avola and one touch from elimination. Massialas then reeled off seven consecutive points to stay alive.
He had a much easier time in the semifinals, beating Richard Kruse of Great Britian, 15-9. Massialas admitted that the comeback had used up some of his energy but noted that he had trained his whole life for a long run to the championship.
“I may be tired, but I’m fighting through it,” he said. “I’m prepared to go the whole nine yards from here.”
It appeared another comeback might be in the offing in the final. Massialas was down 14-7 but had four straight touches to tighten the match, but that’s as close as he came.
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L'Italien Daniele Garozzo est devenu champion olympique de fleuret cet après-midi à Rio, en battant l'Américain Alexander Massialas sur le score de 15-11. Après un passage à vide, le tireur américain accusait un lourd retard avec le score de 14-7. Il a réussi à placer quatre touches d'affilée, mais l'Italien a ensuite porté la touche de la victoire.

À 24 ans, Garozzo remporte ainsi la médaille d'or de fleuret masculin qui échappait aux Italiens depuis Atlanta, en 1996. De son côté, Massialas ne parvient pas à devenir le premier tireur américain à remporter un titre olympique en escrime (toutes disciplines confondues). En guise de consolation, il remporte la première médaille américaine en escrime masculine en 32 ans.
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