Tunisian fencer Fares Ferjani clinches the first Arab medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics by securing a silver in the épée event on Saturday, after a defeat to South Korea’s Sanguk Oh with a score of 11-15 in the final match.
This marks the first Olympic medal for 27-year-old Ferjani and the third for Arab fencers, following Egyptian Alaaeldin Abouelkassem’s silver in foil at London 2012 and Tunisian Ines Boubakri’s in foil at Rio 2016.
Hailing from a family deeply rooted in fencing, Ferjani’s brother, Mohamed Ayoub, competed in the foil category at Rio 2016, while another brother, Ahmed, has participated in the épée category at several World Cups.
Their father, Salah, is an international fencing referee, and their mother, uncles, and cousins have also competed in various sports at different levels.
Explaining his passion for fencing, Ferjani, who is a licensed referee in the United States, said, “Why do I love fencing? It’s in my family. It’s like water to me.”
Tunisian wrestler Amine Guenichi will miss the Paris 2024 Olympics after receiving a four-year doping suspension from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a Tunisian federation official disclosed to Reuters.
Guenichi had previously secured a gold medal at last year’s Arab Games in the men’s Greco-Roman 130kg category.
According to Montaser Obaidi, the technical director of the Tunisian federation, Guenichi was penalized for intentionally avoiding compliance with anti-doping officials.
In November, when testers arrived at his room in the elite training center, he did not open his door and only provided a urine sample after several hours, which tested negative. Subsequent blood tests also returned negative results.
Despite these outcomes, Guenichi faced a provisional four-month suspension but still competed in an Olympic qualifying tournament in Egypt, where he qualified for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) contested the suspension lift, leading CAS to impose a four-year ban.
