TeamUSA
Daryl Homer is on a roll. Less than three months after earning the men’s saber silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the two-time Olympian claimed his first individual world cup medal Saturday by winning bronze at the event in Dakar, Senegal.
Ranked No. 8 in the world, Homer began his march to the bronze by dispatching Frenchmen Remi Senegas (15-13) and Edward Barloy (15-11). That set up an encounter with world No. 4 Dario Cavaliere of Italy, a match that went to Homer by a 15-10 mark and advanced the 2015 world championship silver medalist to the quarterfinals, where he downed Bolade Apithy of France, 15-13.
His semifinal opponent, Italy’s Enrico Berré, came to the tournament ranked No. 39, but a victory over world No. 1 Junghwan Kim showed that he was not an opponent to take lightly. While each of Homer’s previous bouts were extended affairs with opponents scoring in double digits before falling, Berré’s road was shorter, with three of his four foes failing to score 10 points. With more time to rest, Berré’s fresher legs were the difference as he downed Homer 15-12 to advance to the final, where he fell to world No. 3 Vincent Anstett of France, 15-11. The other bronze went to Luca Curatoli of Italy.
Shade Global 