Olympics: Waller falls in first round of sabre tournament
Swiss fencing's excellent performances came to an abrupt end on Thursday. South Korean Lee Seung-Won beat Laurent Waller 15-13 in the first round of the men's sabre tournament.
Waller failed to make inroads at the beginning of the match, ending up four points behind after eight seconds. He managed to draw even twice after that, reaching six all and 11 all, coming close to leading before losing to his opponent.
Waller, who comes from Geneva but lives and trains in Paris, said he wasn’t able to decide how far away from the South Korean he should fence. “I was too close to my adversary. I should have let him come closer.”
Waller says he will now spend some time thinking about whether to retire.
Switzerland has won two of its five Olympic medals so far in fencing tournaments. Both medals have been silvers.
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