Ukrainian fencer Anna Maksymenko, 17, secured her first career gold medal at the Budapest Epee Grand Prix on March 16.
This marks Ukraine's first Grand Prix victory in fencing since 2020 when Olha Kharlan won gold in saber in Montreal. It is also the first gold in epee competitions since 2013.
Maksymenko defeated Canada's Leonora MacKinnon 15:9 in the semifinals, setting up a final match against Italy's Giulia Rizzi, a Paris 2024 Olympic team champion.
The final was tightly contested, with Maksymenko trailing 9:11 in the last period. However, she equalized with 30 seconds left and then executed a decisive counterattack to win 12:11.
The victory marks Maksymenko's first individual Grand Prix medal, adding to her previous silver in a team event at the World Cup level.
On March 9, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh claimed the gold medal at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
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