Türkiye’s Furkan Yaman and China’s Pan Qimiao made history at the opening day of the 2026 Junior and Cadet World Fencing Championships at the Carioca Arena, the iconic heart of the Rio 2016 Olympic & Paralympic Games.
Against a backdrop of Olympic history, Yaman emerged as the new Junior Men’s Sabre World Champion, becoming the first fencer from his nation ever to capture a Junior World title.
In a field of 138 elite athletes, 16-year-old sensation Qimiao captured the Junior Women’s Sabre World title, becoming the first Chinese woman ever to reach the top of the Junior World podium.
Yaman, the 18-year-old Junior World number 1, entered the field of 171 athletes as the undisputed favorite. His victory in Rio crowns an almost flawless season where he secured three Junior World Cup titles in Hammamet, Bogota, and Dakar and the Junior European title. Leading throughout the final, Yaman elevated Türkiye to the top of the Junior podium for the first time in fencing history.
While Turkey has previously celebrated success at the Cadet (U17) level, a Junior (U20) world title had remained elusive until his success yesterday.
Yaman now joins an elite group of Turkish world champions that includes Doruk Erolçevik, Aleyna Ertürk and İbrahim Ahmed Acar, who was Turkey’s first-ever fencing world champion with gold in Cadet Men’s Sabre.
A Clash of Titans
The silver medal was claimed by the USA’s William Morrill. At just 19 years old, Morrill arrived in Rio in sensational form, having remarkably won a Senior World Cup title in Budapest just four days prior. Throughout the day, Morrill’s signature “ultra-long” attacks proved a deadly weapon, though he eventually had to settle for silver after a tight final.
The bronze medals were shared by two established stars.
Ahmed Hesham of Egypt the 19-year-old Senior World number three and two-time senior Grand Prix medallist concluded his junior career with a well-deserved World podium.
Nineteen-year-old Nurmukhammed Zhailybay, the Junior World number 25 and former Cadet Asian Champion produced a career-best performance to secure bronze for Kazakhstan.
Qimiao , the Junior World number two, added the prestigious women’s title to an already overflowing trophy cabinet that includes the 2026 Junior Asian Championship and the 2024 Cadet World title.
After a “near miss” last year—where she took runner-up spots in the Cadet and bronze in the Junior World Championships—Qimiao finally broke through for gold in Rio.
Her victory marks China’s first Junior world title in over a decade, following Chen Haiwei’s Junior Men’s Foil win in 2014.
With a recent top-16 finish at the Tashkent Senior World Cup just four days ago, Qimiao’s transition to the senior ranks looks set to be as dominant as her junior career.
A Battle of Champions
The silver medal was claimed by Russia’s Alexandra Mikhailova. The 2025 Junior World Champion and reigning Junior European Champion reached her second consecutive world final, demonstrating remarkable consistency at the highest level, though she was unable to defend her crown against the inspired Pan.
The bronze medals were secured by two rising stars of the international circuit. Gabriella Hwang of Puerto Rico, the 18-year-old Junior World number 5 capped off a standout season that included a gold medal at the Bogota Junior World Cup. Her bronze in Rio marks an historic first junior World Championship podium for Puerto Rican fencing.
Italian teenager Vittoria Mocci, 17, continued her podium streak, adding a World bronze to the Junior European bronze she won last season and her podium finish at the Hammamet World Cup in November.
