BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Italian fencer Davide di Veroli clinched his second gold medal of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympics when Europe 1 beat Asia-Oceania 1 in the mixed continental team final on Wednesday.
Di Veroli won his epee duel with Kyrgyzstan's Khasan Baudunov 20-17 as Europe completed a clean sweep of victories in each of the final's six categories, winning with an overall scoreline of 28-25.
The result came barely 48 hours after Di Veroli overcame Germany's Paul Veltrup 11-4 in the final of the individual epee.
The 17-year-old revealed that his success was due in part to his proficiency as a classical ballet dancer.
"Dancing helps me a lot with my fencing because it makes me more elastic, explosive and improves my resistance," Di Veroli said.
"Memorising choreography is really similar to doing lots of the same touches. It helps me mentally and physically."
In the women's epee duel of the mixed continental team final, Ukraine's Kateryna Chorniy caused an upset by defeating top seed Kaylin Sin Yan Hsieh of Hong Kong, China 11-9.
Hsieh was pragmatic after her loss, praising the input of coach Octavian Petru Zidaru.
"Before he came I wasn't very good. I mean, I was OK, but I didn't really understand what fencing was," Hsieh said. "He helped me understand more about the sport and helped develop my strengths."
In the bronze medal match, Americas 1 outclassed Europe 3 with a final scoreline of 30-24.
Americas 1 foil fencer May Tieu said athletes relished the chance to play in the mixed team event. "Fencing as a team and having people support you, always behind you, is really great," the 17-year-old said.
