A handshake is a globally widespread, brief greeting or parting tradition in which two people grasp one of each other's hands, and in most cases, it is accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of the grasped hands. Customs surrounding handshakes are specific to cultures. Different cultures may be more or less likely to shake hands, or there may be different customs about how or when to shake hands.
The International Fencing Federation commonly known by the acronym FIE, is the international governing body of Olympic fencing. Today, its head office is at the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIE is composed of 155 national federations, each of which is recognized by its country's Olympic Committee as the sole representative of Olympic-style fencing in that country.
The United States Fencing Association (USFA) is the national governing body for the sport of fencing in the United States. The USFA was founded in 1891 as the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) by a group of New York fencers seeking independence from the Amateur Athletic Union. The AFLA changed its name to the United States Fencing Association in 1981, and is also known as USA Fencing.
Olha Hennadiivna Kharlan, also known as Olga Kharlan, is a Ukrainian sabre fencer. She is a four-time individual women’s world sabre champion, six-time Olympic medalist and the most decorated Ukrainian Olympian in history. She has been ranked #1 in the world in women's sabre for five seasons: 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2017-2018, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.
Thomas Bach is a German lawyer, former foil fencer, and Olympic gold medalist. He has served as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 2013, the first ever Olympic champion to be elected to that position. Bach is also a former German individual foil champion, and former member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation's executive board.
Stanislav Alekseyevich Pozdnyakov is a Russian former fencer, five-time Olympian (1992–2008), and five-time Olympic medalist in individual and team sabre competitions who is currently serving as president of the Russian Olympic Committee. He is also a ten-time individual and team world champion, in 1994–2007. In 2022, he was removed from his position as European Fencing Confederation (EFC) president at an Extraordinary Congress following a unanimous vote of no confidence in Pozdnyakov, due to his conduct in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sofiya Aleksandrovna Velikaya is a Russian sabre fencer.
Andriy Anatoliyovych Kozhemiakin is a Ukrainian politician and a former security service officer.
Daryl Homer is an American right-handed saber fencer, three-time Olympian, and 2016 individual Olympic silver medalist.
Áron Szilágyi is a Hungarian right-handed sabre fencer. A five-time Olympian, Szilágyi is a three-time individual Olympic champion and 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist.
Mara Navarria is an Italian right-handed épée fencer, 2018 individual world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2024 team Olympic gold medalist.
Daniele Garozzo is an Italian right-handed foil fencer.
Edgar Cheung Ka-long is a Hong Kong left-handed foil fencer, two-time Olympic champion and two-time individual Asian champion, having won the gold medal at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) and Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) are a capacity under which athletes can compete at international sporting competitions without representing their nations, as is standard convention under the Olympic Charter. As of August 2022, only Russian and Belarusian athletes of some sports have competed or are competing within the ANA capacity.
Despina Georgiadou is a Greek sabre fencer. She won the silver medal in the women's sabre event at the 2023 World Fencing Championships held in Milan, Italy. Previously, she had won one of the bronze medals in the women's sabre event at the 2022 World Fencing Championships held in Cairo, Egypt. She won a silver medal in World Cup 2022 in Hammamet, Tunisia, a gold medal in World Cup 2023 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and a bronze bedal in World Cup 2023 in Algiers, Algeria. She has also won the gold medal in the Grand Prix of Orléans, France, 2021, the bronze medal in the Grand Prix of Orléans, France, 2022, and the gold medal in the Grand Prix of Tunis, Tunisia, 2023. She has reached a highest end-of-season ranking No 3 in sabre in 2021/2022 season and a highest ranking No 2 in March 2023. The latter is the highest ranking ever reached by a Greek fencer.
Konstantin Lokhanov is a Russian sabre fencer living in San Diego, California, in the United States. Lokhanov was ranked # 1 in the world in cadet sabre in both 2014 and 2015. He was then a two-time World Junior Sabre Individual Champion, and ranked # 1 in the world for both those years. In 2021, he competed in sabre at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The following year, appalled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he defected to the United States. He said: "I decided I could no longer live in a country that kills innocent Ukrainians." He is a now member of USA Fencing.
Ukraine competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. It was the nation's eighth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era and the first since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A total of 140 athletes competed amid the Russian invasion, the lowest number in the history of Ukraine's participation in the games.
The Ukrainian Fencing Federation commonly known by the acronym NFFU, established in 1992, is the governing body of Ukrainian fencing. Through 2022, Ukrainian fencers won 230 medals combined in the Olympic Games, World championships, and European championships.
The fencing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris were run from 27 July to 4 August at the Grand Palais strip. A total of 212 fencers, with an equal distribution between men and women, competed across twelve medal events at the Games. For the second straight time, Paris 2024 witnessed both men and women fence against each other in the individual and team events held in all three weapons.
This article details the qualifying phase for fencing at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The competition will comprise a total of 212 fencers, with an equal distribution between men and women, coming from the different NOCs, similar to the Tokyo 2020 roster size. Qualified NOCs can enter a maximum of eighteen fencers, with each consisting of a trio, whether men's or women's, across all weapon-based team events.
