CHIBA, Japan-- South Korean fencer Kim Jung-hwan wanted to scale heights that no other fencer from the country had reached: winning three Olympic medals, and doing that at three consecutive competitions, too.

Kim realized that dream by taking the bronze medal in the men's individual sabre event at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. He defeated Sandro Bazadze of Georgia 15-11 at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, east of the Japanese capital.

Kim began his streak with the sabre team gold medal in 2012 in London. Then he earned his first individual medal four years later in Rio de Janeiro with the bronze.

The 37-year-old is now the first South Korean fencer to win a medal at three consecutive Olympics.

"As athletes, we all dream about competing at the Olympics," Kim said. "And I really wanted to become an athlete with three Olympic medals. I just had my dream come true."

And Kim almost didn't even make it to this year's Olympics. After the 2018 Asian Games, Kim put his international career on hold. He returned in time to earn a spot on the Olympic team again.

"I am lucky to be at these Olympic Games. I think I've had my share of luck, and so I figured I wouldn't be going home empty-handed," Kim said. "I just didn't think the medal would come from the individual event."

Kim didn't make it easy on himself on his way to the podium. In the quarterfinals, he rallied from a 14-12 deficit to beat Kamil Ibragimov of the Russian Olympic Committee 15-14. In the semifinals, though, Kim got a taste of his own medicine, blowing a 12-6 lead over Luigi Samele of Italy and losing 15-12.

Then he beat Bazadze after a back-and-forth battle.

"The bronze medal match is basically a battle between the two losers, so I thought it'd come down to who would forget about the earlier loss faster," Kim said.

With a mischievous smile, Kim said, "I had a big bump on the back of my head after getting hit during that match. I think I would have cried if I didn't win this bronze."

His two teammates, world No. 1 Oh Sang-uk and No. 9 Gu Bon-gil, were both eliminated earlier than expected. But the three, plus Kim Jun-ho, will go at it for the team event next Wednesday.

"My goal coming into Tokyo was to win the team gold medal, and I think we're certainly capable of doing that as the world No. 1," Kim said. "I want to prove to people that our sabre fencing has made strides."

Source: Yonhap News Agency