Lombardi, 2022 European U20 men’s foil champion, battled through a field of 63 fencers to secure the gold.
His day started with a 5/6 record in his pool, and was awarded the 5th seed of the direct elimination. After a BYE in the round of 64, Lombardi defeated Moritz Renner (GER) 15-11, Ievgen Lazarenko (UKR) 15-14, and Maciej Bem (POL) 15-5 to reach the semi-finals. There he defeated Gergely Toth (HUN) 15-9 to advance to the final.
Lombardi’s opponent in the final, Hungarian Gergo Szemes, entered the direct elimination ranked 14th after a 5/6 record in the pool. After a BYE in the round of 64, he reached the semi-final by defeating Andor István Mihalyi (HUN) 15-5, Jaimie Cook (GBR) 15-6, and Armand Spichiger (FRA) 15-14. The Hungarian secured his spot in the gold medal match after defeating Tommaso Martini (ITA) 15-11.
The final was even, but Lombardi came out on top 15-13 to secure Italy’s first gold medal in Budapest.
