Former makeup team leader on The Outlaws Cho Eun-hye lands golden thrust at 14-14 ... South Korea’s first fencing gold at the Asian Para Games [Asian Para Games]

[Financial News] Cho Eun-hye (41, Bluebell Korea), the “senior member” of South Korea’s women’s wheelchair fencing team and a former makeup team leader on the film The Outlaws, has won the first gold medal in Korean fencing history since the launch of the Asian Para Games.
Cho Eun-hye defeated Saisunee Jana of Thailand by a single point, 15-14, in the final of the women’s individual épée (sports class B) at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, held at Inae Sports Center in Nagoya, Japan, on the 21st, to claim the title. Jana, her opponent in the final, is a world-class powerhouse who swept the individual B events in épée, foil and sabre at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
The contest remained nail-biting until the final moment. Cho, who ended the first period 8-6 ahead, stretched her lead to 14-8 at one point in the second period, putting victory within reach. But Jana mounted a fierce comeback, closing the gap to 14-12, and Cho conceded consecutive points in the third period to allow the score to reach 14-14. In a tense final-point battle with the outcome hanging in the balance, after two double touches, Cho landed a decisive golden thrust to seal the victory.
With this, South Korean fencing achieved a historic first, winning a gold medal for the first time since the Asian Para Games were launched in 2010. Kim Ki-hong previously won the individual épée event in 2006, when the event was known as the Asia-Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC), the predecessor to the Asian Para Games, but this is the first gold under the current system. Cho, who won two bronze medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, reached the top of the podium at her second Games.
Cho Eun-hye’s victory is a story of triumph of the human spirit. She previously worked as the head of the makeup team on the film The Outlaws, but was diagnosed with paraplegia after an unexpected fall in 2017. The following year, while undergoing rehabilitation, she learned about wheelchair fencing through a TV news report and picked up a sword for the first time. Just eight years after taking up the sport, she has made it to the top of Asia.
On the 22nd, Cho Eun-hye will join her teammates in the women’s team épée event, aiming to win a second gold medal at these Games.


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