Foil fencer Sopit wins historic gold at the 2026 European Championships
Kyiv • UNN
Olha Sopit has won Ukraine's first-ever European Championship gold medal in women's foil. In the final, the Kyiv native defeated the highly decorated Italian Arianna Errigo.
Ukrainian foil fencer Olga Sopit won gold at the 2026 European Fencing Championships, the NOC of Ukraine reported, according to UNN.
Ukrainian foil fencer Olga Sopit is the European champion in women's foil. This is the first gold medal in the history of Ukraine at the European Championships in women's foil,
On the second day of the continental fencing championship hosted by Antony, France, the 23-year-old Kyiv native brought the Ukrainian national team its second medal of the tournament.
In the group stage, Olga won 4 out of 6 bouts, after which she advanced through the first rounds of the playoffs, successively defeating Lilli Maria Brugger of Austria (14:7) and Marta Jakubowska of Poland (15:7).
The quarterfinal was marked by a tense Ukrainian derby against the 2024 European silver medalist Dariia Myroniuk. Trailing 8:10 during the bout, Olga managed to level the score and secured a victory (12:11) on priority in the extra minute.
In the semifinals, the Ukrainian defeated the bronze medalist of the previous European Championship, Maria Marino of Spain (15:8).
In the final match, Olga faced the highly decorated Italian Arianna Errigo — an Olympic champion, 10-time world champion, and 15-time European champion — and confidently defeated her with a score of 15:8.
For Olga, this is her debut medal at the senior European Championships. Previously, her greatest achievements at the senior level were silver and bronze medals at the World Cup. The Ukrainian's record also includes, among other medals, a "bronze" from the Junior World Championships in team foil and a "gold" from the U23 European Championships in the individual event.
Overall, this is only the third medal in the history of Ukrainian women's foil at the European Championships: following the bronze of the team's current coach Olga Leleiko (2007) and the silver of Dariia Myroniuk (2024). Now, the first "gold" has been added to this list.