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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Yana Egorian emerged victorious in an all-Russian Olympic final on Monday, edging World No.1 Sofya Velikaya 15-14 for the gold medal in the women' s sabre.
Velikaya, a two-time world individual champion, bulit a 8-5 lead after the first period, but her 22-year-old teammate fought back to tie the game at 14 then made the final hit to secure the top spot.
"I'm feeling like the happiest person in the world. All this season I've been working for this. All my training went perfectly; that's why I won this medal." said Egorian.
Olga Kharlan of Ukraine claimed back-to-back bronze medals by beating French young star Manon Brunet.
Egorian became the first woman to win an individual gold medal in fencing for Russia while Velikaya, who lost the final at the London 2012 Olympic Games to KIM Jiyeon, became the first woman to lose two finals in the individual sabre.
"We still have the team competition now and I have another chance to win." Velikaya said.
Russia's women sabre team has been the dominating position in recent years as they won the 2015 World Championships and 2016 European Championships.
