Fencer Choi Byung-chul waves after winning bronze in the men's individual foil in the London Olympics, at the ExCeL Arena on Tuesday.

Fencer Choi Byung-chul, the most senior in the Korean national fencing team, won bronze in the men's individual foil at the ExCeL Arena in London on Tuesday, beating Italy's Andrea Baldini 15-14.

The medal cheered up a slightly depressed fencing team. The previous day, Shin A-lam failed to advance to the gold medal match in the women's individual epee semifinal due to a timekeeping glitch and later lost her bronze medal match to China's Sun Yujie. "It was so unfair that I couldn't sleep," said Choi. "I really wanted to win a medal for A-lam."

Choi, who is taking part in his third Olympics, mustered all his strength to win his first medal despite an ankle injury in the previous match.

He became the first male Korean fencer to win an Olympic medal for Korea since Kim Young-ho won gold in the individual foil and Lee Sang-ki took bronze in the individual epee in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.