Egyptian fencing delivered two major gold medals at the Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games as Mohamed El Sayed and Mohamed Hamza triumphed on consecutive days, helping lift Egypt’s overall tally to four golds.

El Sayed claimed the men’s individual épée title before Hamza followed with gold in the men’s foil, part of a wider Egyptian fencing haul that ultimately reached five medals.

El Sayed Defends His Mediterranean Crown

Mohamed El Sayed arrived in Taranto as one of the biggest names in Egyptian fencing after winning bronze in the individual épée at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The Egyptian produced a strong run through the competition, edging Italy’s Filippo Armaleo 12-11 before beating another Italian opponent, Valerio Cuomo, 15-6. He then defeated Portugal’s Miguel Frazão 15-10 in the semifinal.

The final guaranteed Egypt both gold and silver, with El Sayed facing compatriot Youssef Shamel in an all-Egyptian showdown.

El Sayed prevailed 14-11 to take gold, leaving Shamel with a deserved silver medal after his own impressive run to the final.

The victory also continued El Sayed’s remarkable Mediterranean Games record. He had already won the individual épée title at Oran 2022, meaning the Paris Olympic bronze medallist successfully defended his Mediterranean crown four years later in Taranto.

Hamza Turns Oran Bronze Into Taranto Gold

Egypt’s success continued the following day when Mohamed Hamza took centre stage in the men’s foil.

Hamza defeated Italy’s Giulio Lombardi 15-9 in the semifinal before facing another Italian, Davide Filippi, for gold.

The Egyptian delivered when it mattered most, beating Filippi 15-12 to secure the title and raise Egypt’s overall haul to four gold medals at the Games.

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For Hamza, the result represented another step forward in his Mediterranean Games career.

He had won bronze in the same event at Oran 2022. Four years later, he returned to the podium in Taranto, this time occupying the top step.

There was further Egyptian success in the foil as Abdelrahman Tolba took bronze after narrowly losing his semifinal 15-14 to Filippi. Tolba fought his way back into the contest despite being affected by an injury early in the bout.

Five Fencing Medals for Egypt

The two gold medals formed part of an even wider Egyptian success story in fencing.

Alongside El Sayed and Hamza’s titles, Shamel collected silver in the men’s épée, Tolba earned bronze in the men’s foil and Sara Amr Hossny added silver in the women’s foil.

That gave Egypt five fencing medals in Taranto, two gold, two silver and one bronze, enough to put the country on top of the fencing medal table ahead of Turkey, Spain and hosts Italy.

By the end of Monday’s competition, Egypt’s overall Mediterranean Games tally had reached 12 medals, consisting of four golds, three silvers and five bronzes, with the Games continuing until September 3.

For El Sayed, Taranto brought another successful defence of a Mediterranean title. For Hamza, it completed the journey from bronze in Oran to gold in Italy.

Together, their victories underline just how significant fencing has already become to Egypt’s medal campaign at Taranto 2026.