Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre; winning points are made through the contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, singlestick, appeared in the 1904 Olympics but was dropped after that, and is not a part of modern fencing. Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics. Based on the traditional skills of swordsmanship, the modern sport arose at the end of the 19th century, with the Italian school having modified the historical European martial art of classical fencing, and the French school later refining the Italian system. There are three forms of modern fencing, each of which uses a different kind of weapon and has different rules; thus the sport itself is divided into three competitive scenes: foil, épée, and sabre. Most competitive fencers choose to specialize in one weapon only.
Mariel Leigh Zagunis is an American sabre fencer. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the individual sabre and the first American to win a gold medal in Olympic fencing. She was chosen to be the flag bearer of the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. She also has two Olympic bronze medals in team events and is a four-time Olympian.
David Abramovich Tyshler was a Russian sabreur, part of the first generation of internationally successful Soviet fencers. He is also known as a successful and innovative fencing coach. His notable pupils included Sergey Sharikov, Mark Midler, Mark Rakita, Viktor Sidjak, Viktor Krovopuskov, and Viktor Bazhenov. He choreographed stage and screen combat, and made cameo appearances in Russian cinema.
Andrea Baldini is an Italian foil fencer, world champion in 2009 and team Olympic champion in 2012.
The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime or FIE,. The world championships are, after the Olympic Games, the most prominent international competition in the sport of fencing. Contestants may participate in foil, épée, and sabre events.
The University Athletic Association of the Philippines fencing champions.
Collegiate fencing has existed for a long time. Some of the earliest programs in the US came from the Ivy League schools, but now there are over 100 fencing programs in the US. Both clubs and varsity teams participate in the sport, however only the varsity teams may participate in the NCAA championship tournament. The first NCAA fencing tournament was held at Northwestern University in 1941. Due to the limited number of colleges that have fencing teams, teams fence inter-division, and all divisions participate in the NCAA Championships.
The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing.
The European Fencing Championships is an annual top-level European fencing competition organized by the European Fencing Confederation.
Sarra Besbes is a Tunisian épée fencer, seven-time gold medallist at the African Fencing Championships. She represented Tunisia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, placing eighth, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, placing fifth.
Gu Bon-gil is a South Korean fencer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed as part of the South Korean team in the Men's team sabre, where he won a gold medal. In the individual event he was defeated in the third round.
Áron Szilágyi is a Hungarian sabre fencer, team world champion in 2007, two-time Olympic champion in 2012 and 2016 and European champion in 2015.
Alaaeldin Mohamed El-Sayed Abouelkassem is an Egyptian fencer who won a silver medal in the men's foil event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He took up fencing at the age of eight and, in 2008, began fencing internationally, winning medals at the African and World Junior Championships, as well as the Junior World Cup, before progressing to the senior level in 2011 and capturing bronze at the Fleuret de St-Petersbourg. Later that year he earned gold medals at the 2011 Pan Arab Games in the individual and team foil events before progressing to the 2012 Summer Games, where he won Africa's first ever Olympic fencing medal.
The fencing competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 6 to 14 August at the Carioca Arena 3 inside the Barra Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca. Around 212 fencers competed in 10 events.
Asian Fencing Championships is the fencing zonal championship organized by the Asian Fencing Confederation for the Asia-Oceania zone. The tournament began in 1989 and it has been held annually since 2007. It awards points for the Fencing World Cup.
Eli Dershwitz is an American Olympic sabre fencer.
The Pan American Fencing Championships are an annual top-level fencing tournament organized by the Pan American Fencing Confederation. They serve as zone championships for the Fencing World Cup run by the International Fencing Federation.
Yémi Geoffrey Apithy is a French-Beninese sabre fencer representing Benin in international competitions, silver medalist at the 2014 and 2015 African Championships. He bore the flag for Benin at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Fencing events at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics were held from 7 to 10 October at the Africa Pavilion in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
