17-year-old Ukrainian Anna Maksymenko wins the European Youth (U23) epee championship

Anna Maksymenko, a 17-year-old Ukrainian, is the European U23 champion in epee fencing.

On her way to the title, Maksymenko defeated her teammate Alina Dmytruk and the second-seeded Italian, among others, and in the final defeated the current champion Gaia Caforio with a golden injection.

Maksymenko, 17, added the Youth Euro gold to her personal victories at the continental cadet and junior championships in 2024-2025.

Anna Maksymenko and her gold medal

The award that the young fencer managed to win was a significant development not only for her, but also for Ukraine in general:

• Maksymenko’s gold is Ukraine’s second medal at the 2025 European Championships after foil fencer Olga Sopit’s silver.
• This is Anna’s second gold medal in her career at the European Youth Championships, after winning the gold medal in the 2024 team.
• Since the beginning of the season, Maksymenko has added the European Championship gold to her victories in the individual tournament at Euro 2025 and the team events at the World Championships (both at the junior level).
• The Ukrainian has combined gold medals at the European Championships in three age categories: previously she won continental gold among cadets (U17) and juniors (U20).
• This is the second time in three years that Ukrainian women have won the individual epee tournament at the Youth Euros: in 2023, Emily Conrad did it.

It is worth noting that the Ukrainian women had a tough time in the final round. Conrad and Sidenko ended their performances after their first playoff matches, losing to Hungary’s Greta Gacsalyi and Romania’s Erica Badea, respectively.

Maksymenko and Dmytruk, who met in the 1/16 finals, made it to the same side of the net – Maksymenko won the ‘derby’ with a one-stroke advantage (15:14). On her way to the final, Anna also defeated Hungary’s Reka Salamon (15:7), second-seeded Italy’s Lucrezia Paulis (15:7) and Poland’s Zofia Janelli (15:11).

In the gold medal final, Maksimenko overcame a three-point deficit to the current champion, Italian Gaia Caforio, and levelled the score at 11-11 with 45 seconds left in the match. The champion was determined on the priority, where the Ukrainian scored the ‘golden’ injection – 12:11.

In April, two Ukrainians became winners of the heaviest weightlifting division of Euro 2025.