European Games 2023: William Deary's historic fencing medal among three Team GB bronzes
Last updated on .From the section Sport
Fencer William Deary claimed Team GB's first ever medal in the men's sabre as Great Britain won three bronzes on day six at the European Games.
Deary, 25, was narrowly beaten 15-14 by Poland's Krzysztof Kaczkowski in the semi-final but he was already assured of a medal by reaching that stage.
Aaliyah Powell won taekwondo bronze in the women's 62kg, beating Miljana Reljikj of North Macedonia 2-0.
Divers Matt Dixon and Ben Cutmore won men's synchronised 10m platform bronze.
The trio of bronzes on Sunday left Great Britain 10th in the standings, with a total haul of 19 medals in Poland including four golds.
Team GB is competing across 18 Olympic sports at the multi-disciplinary European Games, which finish on 2 July, with qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on the line in 10 events.
Since fencing first featured at the modern Olympic Games in 1896, no Team GB athlete had ever made a sabre podium.
But Deary made history by edging past Italian Luigi Samele 15-14 in the quarter-finals, although he was then pipped by a one-point margin in the last four.
Learning of his accomplishment, Deary said: "I didn't know that - that's quite cool!
"I wish it was a gold to be honest, but we wouldn't be athletes if we didn't have that competitiveness.
"I'm a bit heartbroken about the last match. To lose by one is pretty hard.
"Hopefully this result gets the ball rolling and we can keep going."
Meanwhile, a bronze medal represented a step in the right direction for 20-year-old Powell, who continues to build towards the Olympics.
"It's all just learning and processing. Qualification for Paris isn't over yet, there are still a lot more competitions to come, a lot more work and areas to improve on," Powell said.
"As we get closer to the Games that clock is ticking down and we're on the final straight now.
"I just try to take it step by step and do the best I can. In the end, all of it will add together and hopefully we'll get the result that we want."
Dixon and Cutmore had not competed together in a synchronised event before Sunday's competition but led the way after five dives.
And, despite a low-scoring final round, they finished on 372.69 points to make the podium behind winners Ukraine (398.70) and runners-up Italy (388.83).
Elsewhere, Grace Reid topped qualifying in the women's 3m springboard but the mixed synchronised 3m silver medallist finished fifth in the final. Her team-mate Desharne Bent-Ashmeil was sixth.
In speed climbing, Dayan Akhtar had topped the standings in the men's boulder semi-finals on Saturday but just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the final.