Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. The three disciplines of modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre ; each discipline uses a different kind of blade, which shares the same name, and employs its own rules. Most competitive fencers specialise in one discipline. The modern sport gained prominence near the end of the 19th century and is based on the traditional skill set of swordsmanship. The Italian school altered the historical European martial art of classical fencing, and the French school later refined that system. Scoring points in a fencing competition is done by making contact with an opponent.
A foil is one of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. It is a flexible sword of total length 110 cm (43 in) or under, rectangular in cross section, weighing under 500 g (18 oz), with a blunt tip. As with the épée, points are only scored by making contact with the tip. The foil is the most commonly used weapon in fencing.
Sada Molly Jacobson is an American Olympic fencer. She is the 2008 Olympic Individual Sabre silver medalist in women's sabre, the 2004 Olympic Individual Sabre bronze medalist in women's sabre, and the 2003 Pan American Games champion in women's sabre. In 2016, she was inducted into the United States Fencing Hall of Fame.
The épée, sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern épée derives from the 19th-century épée de combat, a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword.
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 Team USA flag bearer in the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. She has two Olympic bronze team medals and is a five-time Olympian.
Edoardo Mangiarotti was an Italian fencer. He won a total of 39 Olympic titles and World championships, more than any other fencer in the history of the sport. His Olympic medals include one individual gold, five team golds, five silver, and two bronze medals from 1936 to 1960.
Soren Hunter Miles S Thompson is an American épée fencer, team world champion, and two-time Olympian. He represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, where he reached the quarterfinals and came in 7th, the best US result in the event since 1956 and at the time the second-best US result of all time. He also represented the US in the 2012 Olympics in London. Thompson won a gold medal and world championship in the team épée event at the 2012 World Fencing Championships. He was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2018, and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.
Fencing practice and techniques of modern competitive fencing are governed by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), though they developed from conventions developed in 18th- and 19th-century Europe to govern fencing as a martial art and a gentlemanly pursuit. The modern weapons for sport fencing are the foil, épée, and sabre.
The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime. Contestants may participate in foil, épée, and sabre events.
The men's épée fencing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on August 10 at the Olympic Green Convention Centre. There were 41 competitors from 23 nations. The event was won by Matteo Tagliariol of Italy, the nation's first victory in the event since 1960 and first medal of any color since 1968. It was Italy's seventh overall victory, most among nations. The silver medal went to Fabrice Jeannet of France. José Luis Abajo earned Spain's first men's individual épée medal with his bronze. The Russian fencers' streak of five Games on the podium ended.
Valentyna Ksenofontivna Rastvorova was a Ukrainian who was a Soviet fencer who competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Olympics in the individual foil and team foil events. She won an individual silver medal and team gold medal in 1960, and a team silver medal in 1964. She also won six gold and two silver medals at the world championships of 1956–67.
The men's épée competition in fencing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was held on 1 August at the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre. There were 30 competitors from 24 nations. Rubén Limardo of Venezuela won the gold medal – the country's only medal of the 2012 Games as well as the country's first medal in men's individual épée. Norway's Bartosz Piasecki won silver and Jung Jin-Sun from South Korea took bronze.
Noam Mills is an Israeli fencer, who competed in the individual women's épée event for Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She is a three-time junior Israeli champion in épée, and a four-time senior Israeli champion.
Maria Ruxandra Udrea is a Romanian épée fencer. She won a team silver medal in the 2013 European Fencing Championships in Zagreb and a bronze medal in the 2013 World Fencing Championships in Budapest.
The World Cadets and Juniors Fencing Championships are an annual international fencing competition held by the International Fencing Federation.
The men's épée competition in fencing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held on 9 August at the Carioca Arena 3. There were 38 competitors from 20 nations. South Korea's Park Sang-young won the individual gold, the first victory for South Korea in the event after bronze medals in 2000 and 2012. Géza Imre took silver, Hungary's first medal in the event since 1996. Imre, at age 41, was the oldest individual fencing medalist since 1952. Gauthier Grumier of France earned bronze.
Yuval Shalom Freilich is an Israeli left-handed épée fencer. In 2014 and 2015 Freilich won the European Men's Épée Junior Championships. He won the individual épée tournament at the 2019 European Fencing Championships, the épée team silver medal with Israel at the 2022 European Fencing Championships, and the gold medal at the 2024 Epee Grand Prix event in Qatar.
The men's épée event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 25 July 2021 at the Makuhari Messe. 36 fencers from 18 nations competed.
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.
