A Richmond fencer shed tears of joy when he won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games on Monday.
Dynamo Fencing Club’s Dylan French competed for Canada in fencing at the games held in Santiago, Chile, from Oct. 20 to Nov 5.
French won against hometown athlete Pablo Alejandro Nunez from Chile with a score of 15-12 in the finals of the men’s individual epee category.
Not only is French celebrating the gold-medal win, but also the first Canadian men’s epee gold at the Pan Am Games, according to Igor Gantsevich, president and coach at Dynamo Fencing.
“It might have been an individual championship medal but it was for the entire local and national fencing community,” said Gantsevich, adding that French was in “utter joy” to know years of work and training had paid off.
“He feels extremely proud to have been able to achieve this historic moment.”
Gantsevich described the win as a “huge accomplishment” for French and the club.
“Dylan has been (training) with my dad and me for 18 years now and he is like family to us,” he said.
“I am so proud of him.”
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