Greek fencer Theodora Gkountoura was stripped of her chance at the semi-finals in the individual women’s sabre competition at the Paris Olympics after suffering a heavily contested narrow defeat by France’s Manon Apithy-Brunet on Monday, July 29.
27-year-old Gkountoura is currently ranked number seven in the International Fencing Federation (IFF) and had ambitions of bringing Greece their first medal in the Paris Olympics.
The match had a final score of 15-13, which was challenged by Greek fans and television viewers.
To Aρχηγείο της Ελληνικής Αποστολής στο Παρίσι έστειλε επιστολή διαμαρτυρίας στην Διεθνή Ομοσπονδία Ξιφασκίας για τη διαιτησία στον αγώνα της Δώρας Γκουντούρα, η οποία κοινοποιήθηκε και στη Διεθνή Ολυμπιακή Επιτροπή.https://t.co/7RRIsGACxJ
— Ηellenic Olympic Committee (@HellenicOlympic) July 30, 2024
Claims of bias behaviour and favouritism from the referee flooded social media, worsening the already divisive debate surrounding the judgements of the sport and the integrity of refereeing in the world of fencing.
The culmination of this scrutiny eventuated in the Greek team filing a formal complaint with the IFF on Tuesday, July 30 over the match.
“Theodora was subjected to decisions that we believe were biased and incompatible with the regulations governing the sport,” the Greek fencing team said.
Source: Ekathimerini.
