Italy’s Women and Hungary’s Men Reflect on Team Triumphs
On a day marked by tension, teamwork, and emotional highs, the newly crowned European Champions in women’s foil and men’s sabre shared their thoughts with Olympic gold medallist Erika Kirpu in the latest edition of Voice of Victory. What follows is a glimpse into the emotions, humour, and determination that carried them to the top.
Hungary – “We Fenced Amazingly the Whole Day”
Erika Kirpu: Guys, man, congratulations. So, today you are the champions. How does it feel?
Szilágyi Áron: It feels very good, to be honest. I’m very happy that I can experience it with these guys. We fenced amazingly the whole day. We had some struggles and challenges on the way to the final and the way to the gold medal, but I’m very happy that we went through it all.
Erika: What was the biggest struggle and biggest challenge?
Rabb Krisztián: I think in the first match we fenced against Georgia and they had a big lead, so we had to climb up — and we successfully did it.
Erika: What helped you to climb up?
Rabb: I think we just concentrated on our exercises and what we had to do. We calmed down a little bit.
Erika: It’s not easy to calm down against Georgia.
Rabb: Yeah, we know. We prepared and we were able to do it.
Erika: You have heard the saying that you don’t lose, but you learn. But when you win, do you still learn? Did you learn something today?
Rabb: Yeah, of course. When we win, we could feel it. We just experience what we have to do when we fence.
Erika: To finish, could you please each of you describe yourself with one word today?
Szilágyi: Able to overcome my challenges. (laughs) Is it too long?
Erika: It’s long, but…
Szilágyi: Short enough?
Erika: After the long day, it’s short enough.
Rabb: For me — angry.
Szatmári András: I think — motivated.
Iliasz Nicolas: I’m the loud one.
Erika: Thank you very much.
Italy – “Winning Is Never Simple”
Erika Kirpu: I’m here with an amazing team — the winners of Women’s Foil. Girls, congratulations!
Team: Thank you!
Erika: You were expected to win. Since 2015, you’ve won 7 out of 9 titles. But what did you expect from yourselves?
Martina Batini: Winning is not simple. It’s never simple. We won a lot, but it’s always a new competition, and it’s not so easy to win again year after year. So we are very happy about it.
Erika: In fact, I saw that you were struggling a lot during the day. In the first match, you had a dramatic fail. How can you describe your path to gold?
Anna Cristino: At the start, it was really difficult, but we put ourselves in the business. We stayed united. So we did a good job, I think.
Erika: Do you remember what was your sweetest moment — the one when you said, “No, we have to keep playing”? I can say what I know from outside… (laughing) For me, the sweetest moment was when you got hit with the guard to the mask?
Arianna Errigo: Brava! Yes!
Erika: Can you please describe yourself one at a time?
Martina Batini: Anna is sleepy. Because she’s always sleepy. But also Alicia is always tired. So one is sleepy and another is tired! Also Ariadna — before, with the kids she was tired, but now she’s the wisest. And me — obviously, I’m the funniest.
Erika: Thank you very much.
