Kelley Hurley's comeback attempt falls short in sudden-death overtime
Tess Demeyer
NBC Sports
Updated: July 24, 2021 at 9:17 AM
Kelley Hurley was defeated by Russian fencer Aizanat Murtazaeva in the women's individual epee round of 16
The comeback effort Kelley Hurley orchestrated in the final seconds of her bout against Russian fencer Aizanat Murtazaeva was nearly enough to propel her to the quarterfinals of the women’s individual epee, but Hurley came up short in overtime. Murtazaeva scored first during the one-minute sudden death period and eliminated her American opponent, winning 12-11.
Murtazaeva went on to defeat Man Wai Vivian Kong of Hong Kong 15-10 in the quarterfinals and will face Chinese fencer Sun Yiwen, who won a silver team and a bronze individual medal in Rio, in the semifinals.
Hurley was the only competitor from Team USA vying for a spot in the quarterfinals after her sister, Courtney Hurley lost to ZhuMingye of China in the round of 32. The siblings will have another chance for a medal when they compete in the team epee Monday. They both hold a bronze medal from the team epee event at the 2012 Olympics.