British para fencing ace wins first solo medal on European stage with gutsy show

The Blackpool para fencer, 34, followed up her pair of team bronzes on Tuesday with the same stage colour medal in Cardiff with a gutsy display in her individual foil category

Jubilant Justine Moore was bursting with pride after winning her maiden individual medal on the European stage.

The Blackpool para fencer, 34, followed up her pair of team bronzes on Tuesday with the same stage colour medal in Cardiff with a gutsy display in her individual foil category. Moore battled past Belarusian Alesia Makrytskaya 15-13 in a thrilling quarter-final bout to guarantee herself a place on the podium.

And while she was unable to tee up a shot at gold after a semi-final defeat against eventual champion Ionela Andreea Mogos, she could not contain her delight after a day in the Welsh capital to savour.

“I’m super happy with how I performed today,” she said. “I’d been training well and I’m just so proud of myself today.

“I just thought I had to stay focused, stay on the game and keep very calm. I tried to keep my nerves down and just focus, and it went in my favour, which was great. I have surprised myself a bit, but I felt like training was going well.”

The European Championships are being held in the UK for the first time since Sheffield in 2011, hosted at the Sport Wales National Centre in the shadow of Sophia Gardens.

Moore had got her campaign off to a flyer on the opening day of action with both mixed team epee and foil bronzes alongside the likes of Paralympic champions Dimitri Coutya and Piers Gilliver. And she followed that up with a dazzling individual display just 24 hours later, beating Frenchwoman Cecile Demaude and then Makrytskaya to guarantee her first individual medal on the continental stage.

Moore went down 15-4 against three-time Paralympic medallist Mogos, 38, but bagged bronze alongside Viktoria Boykova as Nadiia Doloh scooped silver.

She now hopes to carry major momentum into the rest of the week in what marks the maiden qualification event for the LA2028 Paralympic Games.

“It’s looking really good for myself now,” she added.

“I’m going to continue and see what happens for the rest of the week.

“I now need to stay on my A-game, focused and be prepared as much as possible – you just never know what the result may be.

“I’m really proud.”

The Para Fencing European Championships, supported by funding from UK Sport through The National Lottery, and Welsh Government, is being held in Cardiff on the 6th-11th October 2026, seeing athletes from across Europe compete in the first qualification event for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games. For more information and tickets visit here