Olympic Fencing 2016: Medal Winners and Scores After Friday's Results

Fencing continued at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with the men's team foil event Friday. Russia took home the gold medal with a victory over silver medalists France in the final match, while the United States captured the bronze in a showdown with Italy.

Here is a look at all of Friday's results, per the Rio Games' official website:

It was a thrilling gold-medal match for the victorious Russian side, and Artur Akhmatkhuzin turned in a brilliant performance down the stretch to overcome France's lead. 

France dictated the early going, building a 25-16 advantage, but Russia climbed back to within 35-30 when Akhmatkhuzin turned the momentum of the bout. He went on a 10-3 run against France's Jean-Paul Tony Helissey, giving his side a 40-38 lead. From there, Alexey Cheremisinov finished the victory with a 5-3 showing against Erwan le Pechoux.

As for the bronze-medal match, the Americans made history with a 45-31 win thanks to the combined efforts of Alexander Massialas, Gerek Meinhardt, Race Imboden and Miles Chamley-Watson. According to Eric Weeks of NBC Olympics, it was the first Olympic medal for the United States in the team foil since 1932.

It was a back-and-forth match in the early going, but Meinhardt went on an 8-0 run to turn a 20-17 deficit into a 25-20 advantage. From there, Massialas won five of the next six points to make it 30-21, and Meinhardt stretched it to 35-22 with a 5-1 run of his own before the Americans closed out the victory.

NBC Olympics shared the team's triumphant celebration:

There was an element of revenge for the United States. Weeks noted Italy beat the Americans in the semifinals of the 2012 Games in London before proceeding to win the gold. The United States then lost to Germany in the bronze-medal bout, finishing in a disappointing fourth place. Daniele Garozzo, who was part of Italy's team Friday, also beat Massialas for gold in the individual foil.

The victory capped off an up-and-down day of competition for the Americans. They beat Egypt in the quarterfinals but lost to Russia in the semifinals.

Massialas lost 6-0 against Russia's Timur Safin in the early going, which put the United States behind 10-5. The Americans fell further behind, but Chamley-Watson scored 10 points in the fourth and helped his team take the lead late in the bout. However, Massialas couldn't generate any late momentum, and Russia earned the 45-41 win.

Despite the loss, Weeks noted that "Chamley-Watson shined for the United States...often when the U.S. needed it most," scoring 24 points in an impressive performance for the team's oldest competitor (26). The International Fencing Federation reacted to the showing:

France handled Italy with ease in the other semifinal showdown with a 45-30 victory. It appeared to carry that momentum over into the gold-medal match with the quick start against Russia, but it couldn't hold on to the lead down the stretch.

As a result, Russia earned the gold in dramatic fashion.

Reaction

Massialas talked about how his teammates helped him bounce back from his struggles in the semifinal loss to Russia, per Luke Meredith of the Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports): “I only have my teammates to thank because I was down after that match. It was probably one of the worst team matches I've ever fenced and I felt like I let my whole team down. There were no droopy heads except for mine. All they did was try to pick my head up.”

Imboden discussed what the performance meant for the program, per Meredith: “For the first time, the U.S.A. is a powerhouse in fencing. It never has been before. For us to come together and have each other’s backs, it just proves that it’s not a fluke anymore.”

They have the bronze medal to prove it.