Massialas makes some fencing history but falls short of gold

It wasn’t the first time Alexander Massialas had found himself in a jam, on the edge of losing, desperately needing a comeback.

Earlier in the day, the top-ranked American fencer had survived a scare in the quarterfinals, scoring seven consecutive touches to win.

Now, in the gold-medal bout of the men’s foil at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Massialas was a point from losing again, and was storming back against Daniele Garozzo of Italy.

“I always have faith that I have a chance to win,” he said. “These are the Olympic Games, so I’m not going down without a fight.”

But twice in one day was too much to ask as Massialas came up short, 15-11, losing to the underdog Garozzo on Sunday evening at Carioca Arena 3.

Though the loss prevented him from becoming the first American male to win Olympic gold in modern fencing, Massialas was able to make history of another kind.

His silver represents the first individual medal for the U.S. men since Peter Westbrook took bronze in 1984, and the first medal in foil since Albert Axelrod in 1960.

“Obviously, I wish I could have got the gold … I was a little sad,” he said. “But I couldn’t be prouder to bring back any medal for the United States.”

For Garozzo, the victory seemed almost unreal.

“I think it’s impossible,” he said. “I really can’t believe what’s happening now.”

These two fencers had faced each other more times than they could count, dating to their days in the junior ranks. Massialas had consistently prevailed by defending well and capitalizing on the Italian’s attack.

This time, the San Francisco native came in as the No. 1-ranked foilist in the world and one of the best gold-medal hopes for a U.S. team that has established itself as a world-class contender.

But Garozzo opened with small adjustments that threw Massialas off balance. Through the bout’s early moments, the American kept turning back to his coach, hands in the air, wondering what to do.

His coach – who happens to be his father – tried to yell advice.

“It was so loud,” Greg Massialas said. “He couldn’t hear.”

The younger Massialas grew frustrated and suffered a mental lapse, dropping a series of touches and falling behind 14-8 by the end of the first period.

Only then, during a one-minute break, could he speak face-to-face with his dad.

Massialas made the necessary adjustments and started the second period with four straight touches before surrendering the winning point. As his father said: “You can only pull so many rabbits out of a hat.”

Standing on the medals podium, Massialas had tears in his eyes but said they were from seeing his mother in the stands. And from two words – “It’s OK” – his father said to him when the bout ended.

“Even though they don’t sound like a lot, they meant the world to me,” Massialas said. “He knows I left it all on the strip.”

david.wharton@latimes.com