On the hottest day of the Rio 2026 Junior & Cadet Fencing World Championships, the Carioca Arena bore witness to a historic performance in the Men’s Junior Foil event. Hong Kong’s Lam Ho Long, ranked 20th in the Junior World rankings, produced the best fencing of his career to claim the gold medal, emulating the legendary feat of his countryman and two-time Olympic Champion, Cheung Ka Long, who secured the same Junior World title in 2017.
Lam’s path to the gold required him to dismantle a field of the world’s elite fencers. His remarkable run included a 15-13 victory over World No. 3 Amir Fakhretdinov of Russia and a dominant 15-6 semi-final win against Italy’s World No. 4, Mattia Di Cristofaro. In the final, Lam faced the reigning World Champion, Abdelrahman Tolba of Egypt. Lam set a blistering pace from the opening exchange, storming ahead to complete his championship-winning performance in just 1 minute and 30 seconds.
The silver medal was awarded to Egypt's Abdelrahman Tolba, the Junior World No. 2 and Senior World No. 10. Despite a shaky start in the preliminary pools, the defending champion found his rhythm in the direct elimination stages. Tolba showed his championship mettle in the quarterfinals, coming from behind to defeat Great Britain’s 2026 Junior European Champion and World No. 7, David Sosnov, with a 15-13 scoreline. He followed this with a 15-10 semi-final victory over Italy’s Emanuele Iaquinta before falling to Lam in the gold medal bout.
Italy again demonstrated the incredible depth of its foil program by occupying both remaining spots on the podium. World No. 1 and consistent World Cup podium finisher Emanuele Iaquinta claimed a bronze medal, sharing the third-place step with his teammate, World No. 4 Mattia Di Cristofaro. The Italian double-podium finish adds to a long-standing tradition of excellence in the weapon, continuing a legacy of success seen in previous years by fencers such as Tommaso Marini and Damiano Di Veroli.
