Thai fencer wins historic third gold medal at Paralympic Games
Saysunee Jana secures her third gold medal in the women's épée category B final, where she faced Kang Su, a fencer from China
Saysunee "Waew" Jana has made history by winning her third gold medal in wheelchair fencing at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
In the 2024 Paralympic wheelchair fencing competition held in France on September 6, Saysunee secured her third gold medal in the women's épée category B final, where she faced Kang Su, a fencer from China.
Although Saysunee initially trailed in the match, she made a remarkable comeback to defeat Kang Su and claim the gold with a score of 15-7.
Saysunee had already won two gold medals in the individual women's sabre and foil events.
The world’s No 4, Saysunee earned her second gold on Thursday by beating the world’s No 3 Xiao Rong from China 15-11 in the foil category.
The competition between Saysunee and Xiao remained even at the beginning but the Thai athlete made consecutive strikes to win the competition.
The 50-year-old Thai athlete previously beat Xiao Rong, her 31-year-old Chinese opponent in the women’s sabre category, B by 15-14 on Wednesday and get her first gold medal in the Paris Paralympics
And her latest victory on Friday cements her place in Paralympic history as the first female wheelchair fencer to win gold in all three disciplines – sabre, foil, and épée – at the 2024 Paralympic Games in France.
This Paralympic gold medal marks the fifth gold for Saysunee, after participating in six Paralympic Games over the past 20 years, starting from the 2004 Athens Games.
As of Saturday, Thailand was ranked 18th on the medal table with 26 medals (six gold, nine silver, and 11 bronze).
