Egypt's Alaaeldin Abouelkassem has won the first Olympic medal ever claimed by a fencer from Africa.

He lost the final 15-13 to his Chinese rival, yet could barely believe what he'd achieved by earning a silver medal.

Abouelkassem, son of an Algerian mother and an Egyptian father, said his victory would not just boost fencing in Egypt, but in all over Africa.

"They need this medal to improve the fencing in Africa," he said.

On his way to the final, Abouelkassem beat reigning world champion Andrea Cassara of Italy and former four-time world champion Peter Joppich of Germany.

"Every match, I am better than the match before," he said after defeating Cassara. "I feel good, I have no stress, I am from Africa, from Egypt, so no one expects me to win."

Abouelkassem dedicated the medal to his father who died recently.

"This was the dream of my dad and he left me three months ago," he said.

— Eric Willemsen — Twitter https://twitter.com/eWilmedia

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