After Spending 8 Days In Quarantine American Fencer Loses in His Very First Round of Tokyo Olympics 2020

San Francisco native Alexander Massialas lost his first match at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The 27-year-old foil fencer was looking to add to his Olympic medal collection. Unfortunately for him, German foil fencer Peter Joppich cut his Olympic dreams short in the round of 32.

The German beat Massialas 15-12 to advance to the next round. However, the lack of a proper pre-fight routine could be attributed to the shock defeat as the American went into the bout with very limited training and no interaction with his teammates after arriving in Tokyo. He seemed unsure of himself and a little slow during the bout.?

Read more: ?I Don?t Really Play That Many Tournaments?: Naomi Osaka Aims for Gold Despite Lacking Match Practice at Tokyo Olympics 2020

A look at Alexander Massialas? misfortune?

Massialas spent the last eight days quarantined in a hotel with no interaction with his teammates. They placed him there as he was seated near beach volleyball player Taylor Crabb on his flight to Japan. Crabb tested positive for Covid-19 and had to withdraw from the games.?

Alexander Massialas claimed he was vaccinated and continued to test negative. Nevertheless, they completely quarantined him for three days, after which they allowed him to do certain kinds of limited training. However, he still could not be anywhere near his teammates.?

?I?m obviously really disappointed,? said Massialas by Facetime after losing to Germany?s Peter Joppich. ?I?ve been trying to stay positive and make the best of a bad situation.”

Massialas, a three-time Olympian, was looking for an encore at Tokyo 2020. Unfortunately, it appears as though his five-year dream went down the drain because of the seat they assigned him on a plane. However, he may not be done yet.?

Hope for Massialas?

The 27-year-old World No. 5 could not achieve his Olympic dreams in the individual event. However, there is still hope for Massialas in the form of the team Foil event. He will hope to get cleared to move to the village and train with his teammates before that event.

?Sometimes you get unlucky in life,? he said. ?But at least I got to compete. And I will try to help my team win.?

Massialas? teammate Gerek Meinhardt shared the same fate as him as he lost his first match on the same day. His wife Lee Kiefer, however, created history by winning the gold in the Women?s Individual Foil event.?

She became the first American man or woman to win individual foil gold at the Olympics.?