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Jason Pryor Falls by One Touch to Ben Steffen in the 32 in Rio

08/09/2016, 10:30am CDT
By Nicole Jomantas

(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – Years of dreams came down to a double touch on Tuesday for Jason Pryor (South Euclid, Ohio) who competed at his first Olympic Games at 28-years-old in the men's individual event. 

Pryor took on three-time Senior World Team medalist Ben Steffen (SUI) in his Olympic debut bout and held a 5-3 lead in the final minute before Steffen scored two singles for a tie and the two fencers doubled to end the period at 6-6.

Pryor regained the lead at 9-8, but a pair of singles put Steffen ahead by the one touch he would need to win the bout as he doubled out for the win at 15-14.

"That was the most difficult bout I've ever fenced in my life. There's enough adrenaline to kill an elephant,” Pryor said after the bout. “It's loud, and it's near impossible to feel the moments. You try to be disciplined but your body is trying to jump on the touches like a broken jack in the box. I lost 15-14, but hey, that's epee."

The individual competition will conclude on Wednesday when Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y.) and Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.) fence in the men’s saber event and Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) and Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) compete in women’s foil.

Competition schedule is as follows (seeds listed, not world rankings)  

Women's Foil: Wednesday, Aug. 10
First Bouts for Team USA
Table of 32
9:10 a.m.
Yellow: No. 7 Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) vs. No. 26 Nataly Michel (MEX)

10:25 a.m.
Red: No. 4 Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) vs. Mona Shaito (LIB)

Live Stream

5:30 p.m.
Semifinals

7:20 p.m.
Bronze Medal Final

8:15 p.m.
Gold Medal Final

Men's Saber: Wednesday, Aug. 10
First Bouts for Team USA
Table of 32
1:05 p.m.
Red: No. 12 Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.) vs. No. 21 Seppe Van Holsbeke (BEL)
Yellow: No. 10 Daryl Homer (Bronx, N.Y.) vs. No. 23 Ilya Mokretcov (KAZ)

Live Stream

6:30 p.m.
Semifinals

7:50 p.m.
Bronze Medal Final

8:45 p.m.
Gold Medal Final

Tag(s): News