Fencing at the 2024 Summer Olympics

Fencing at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad
Venue	Grand Palais
Dates	27 July – 4 August 2024
No. of events	12 (6 men, 6 women)
Competitors	212 from 52 nations
←  2020 2028  →

The fencing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris were run from 27 July to 4 August at the Grand Palais strip. ^{[1] [2]} 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 (foil, épée, and sabre). ^[3]

Qualification

Main article: Fencing at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification

212 fencing quota places, with an equal distribution between men and women, were available for Paris 2024, similar to the Tokyo 2020 roster size. Qualified NOCs could enter a maximum of eighteen fencers (nine per gender), with each consisting of a trio, whether men's or women's, across all weapon-based team events (foil, épée, and sabre). ^[3]

About two-thirds of the total quota were attributed to the world's top fencers based on the points accrued in the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) Official Ranking between 3 April 2023 and 1 April 2024, with further individual places available at each of the four zonal qualifying tournaments (Africa, Asia & Oceania, Europe, and the Americas). ^[3]

The team events offered eight to nine spots for all registered NOCs competing in each weapon. Each team had to be composed of three fencers (or a fencing trio). The top four teams in each weapon qualified directly for the Games, with the next set of places assigned to the highest-ranked nation from each of the continental zones (Africa, Asia & Oceania, Europe, and the Americas) between fifth and sixteenth position. If a zone did not field any teams within the specific ranking (from fifth to sixteenth place), the top-ranked team eligible for qualification secured a spot irrespective of the continent. ^{[3] [4]}

For the individual events, quota places varied from a minimum of 34 to a maximum of 37. With the team members directly entered into their respective individual competitions, six more places were awarded to the eligible fencers based on the FIE Adjusted Official Ranking list by the continental zone of 1 April 2024: the top two fencers each from Europe and Asia & Oceania; and the highest-ranked fencer each from the Americas and Africa. The zonal qualifying tournaments offered four available spots with one each to the NOCs without a qualified fencer, male or female, in one or more weapons by the two previous pathways. ^[3]

Host nation France reserved six quota places to be distributed between the team and individual events, respecting the eighteen-member NOC limit and the 37-fencer limit for each weapon-based individual event. Two further spots are entitled to the eligible NOCs interested to have their fencers compete in Paris 2024 under the Universality rules. ^[3]

Olga Kharlan qualification in sabre fencing

Since 1 July 2020 (and reconfirmed by Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) public notice in September 2020 and in January 2021), by public written notice the FIE had replaced its previous handshake requirement with a "salute" by the opposing fencers, and written in its public notice that handshakes were "suspended until further notice." ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]} Nevertheless, in July 2023 Ukrainian four-time world fencing individual sabre champion Olga Kharlan was disqualified at the World Fencing Championships by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime for not shaking the hand of her defeated Russian opponent, though Kharlan instead offered a tapping of blades in acknowledgement. Thomas Bach stepped in the next day. ^{[10] [11]} As President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he sent a letter to Kharlan in which he expressed empathy for her, and wrote that in light of the situation she was being guaranteed a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics. ^{[12] [13]} He wrote further: "as a fellow fencer, it is impossible for me to imagine how you feel at this moment. The war against your country, the suffering of the people in Ukraine, the uncertainty around your participation at the Fencing World Championships ... and then the events which unfolded yesterday – all this is a roller coaster of emotions and feelings. It is admirable how you are managing this incredibly difficult situation, and I would like to express my full support to you. Rest assured that the IOC will continue to stand in full solidarity with the Ukrainian athletes and the Olympic community of Ukraine." ^[14]

Competition schedule

Legend

Q

Elimination and quarterfinals

F

Semi-finals and final medal matches

Schedule ^{[2] [15]}

Event↓/Date →	Sat 27		Sun 28		Mon 29		Tue 30		Wed 31		Thu 1		Fri 2		Sat 3		Sun 4
Event	M	A	M	A	M	A	M	A	M	A	M	A	M	A	M	A	M	A
Men's
Men's épée			Q	F
Men's team épée													Q	F
Men's foil					Q	F
Men's team foil																	Q	F
Men's sabre	Q	F
Men's team sabre									Q	F
Women's
Women's épée	Q	F
Women's team épée							Q	F
Women's foil			Q	F
Women's team foil											Q	F
Women's sabre					Q	F
Women's team sabre															Q	F

M = Morning session, A = Afternoon session

Medal summary

Medal table

  *   Host nation (France)

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Japan	2	1	2	5
2	United States	2	1	1	4
3	South Korea	2	1	0	3
4	Hong Kong	2	0	0	2
5	France*	1	4	2	7
6	Italy	1	3	1	5
7	Hungary	1	1	1	3
8	Ukraine	1	0	1	2
9	Tunisia	0	1	0	1
10	Canada	0	0	1	1
	Czech Republic	0	0	1	1
	Egypt	0	0	1	1
	Poland	0	0	1	1
Totals (13 entries)		12	12	12	36

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual épée details	Koki Kano   Japan	Yannick Borel   France	Mohamed El-Sayed   Egypt
Team épée details	Hungary Máté Tamás Koch Tibor Andrásfi Gergely Siklósi Dávid Nagy	Japan Akira Komata Koki Kano Masaru Yamada Kazuyasu Minobe	Czech Republic Jiří Beran Jakub Jurka Martin Rubeš Michal Čupr
Individual foil details	Cheung Ka Long   Hong Kong	Filippo Macchi   Italy	Nick Itkin   United States
Team foil details	Japan Kyosuke Matsuyama Takahiro Shikine Kazuki Iimura Yudai Nagano	Italy Guillaume Bianchi Filippo Macchi Tommaso Marini Alessio Foconi	France Maximilien Chastanet Maxime Pauty Enzo Lefort Julien Mertine
Individual sabre details	Oh Sang-uk   South Korea	Farès Ferjani   Tunisia	Luigi Samele   Italy
Team sabre details	South Korea Gu Bon-gil Oh Sang-uk Park Sang-won Do Gyeong-dong	Hungary Csanád Gémesi András Szatmári Áron Szilágyi Krisztián Rabb	France Sébastien Patrice Maxime Pianfetti Boladé Apithy Jean-Philippe Patrice

Women's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Individual épée details	Vivian Kong   Hong Kong	Auriane Mallo-Breton   France	Eszter Muhari   Hungary
Team épée details	Italy Rossella Fiamingo Mara Navarria Giulia Rizzi Alberta Santuccio	France Marie-Florence Candassamy Alexandra Louis-Marie Auriane Mallo-Breton Coraline Vitalis	Poland Aleksandra Jarecka Alicja Klasik Renata Knapik-Miazga Martyna Swatowska-Wenglarczyk
Individual foil details	Lee Kiefer   United States	Lauren Scruggs   United States	Eleanor Harvey   Canada
Team foil details	United States Jacqueline Dubrovich Lee Kiefer Lauren Scruggs Maia Weintraub	Italy Arianna Errigo Martina Favaretto Alice Volpi Francesca Palumbo	Japan Sera Azuma Yuka Ueno Karin Miyawaki Komaki Kikuchi
Individual sabre details	Manon Apithy-Brunet   France	Sara Balzer   France	Olga Kharlan   Ukraine
Team sabre details	Ukraine Yuliya Bakastova Alina Komashchuk Olga Kharlan Olena Kravatska	South Korea Choi Se-bin Jeon Ha-young Jeon Eun-hye Yoon Ji-su	Japan Risa Takashima Seri Ozaki Misaki Emura Shihomi Fukushima

Accomplishments

Individual events:

• Eleanor Harvey became the first Canadian to win a fencing medal. ^[16]
• Koki Kano became the first Japanese fencer to win an individual gold medal. ^[17]
• Oh Sang-uk won South Korea’s first individual gold medal in men’s sabre. ^[18]
• Mohamed El-Sayed won Egypt’s first individual medal in men’s Épée. ^[19]
• Farès Ferjani became the first Tunisian man to win a fencing medal. ^[20]
• Vivian Kong won Hong Kong's first women’s fencing medal. ^[21]
• Manon Brunet won France’s first gold medal in individual women’s sabre. ^[22]
• Lee Kiefer became only the third woman to win consecutive gold medals in women’s individual foil, and the first American to win three Gold medals in fencing. ^{[23] [24]}
• Cheung Ka Long became only the third man to win consecutive gold medals in men’s individual foil, and the first person from Hong Kong to win multiple fencing medals. ^[25]
• Lauren Scruggs became the first black woman to win an individual medal in women’s foil. ^[26]

Team events:

• South Korea's men’s sabre team became the first non-European country to win 3-consecutive gold. ^[27]
• Japan's men’s foil team became the first non-European country to win gold. ^[28]
• Japan’s women's foil team won their country's first medal in women’s fencing. ^[29]
• United States’ women’s foil team became their country’s first to win gold in any team event, and the first non-European team to win gold. ^[30]
• Ukraine became the first nation to win multiple women’s team sabre gold medals. ^[31]
• Italy won its first gold in women's team Épée. ^[32]
• Czech Republic won its first medal in men's team Épée. ^[33]
• Poland won its first medal in women’s team Épée. ^[34]

See also

• Fencing at the 2022 Asian Games
• Fencing at the 2023 European Games
• Fencing at the 2023 Pan American Games
• Wheelchair fencing at the 2024 Summer Paralympics

References

1. "Paris 2024 – Fencing". Paris 2024 . Retrieved 2 January 2023.
2. "Fencing at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games". NBC Olympics. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
3. Fava, Gisella; Kim, EJ Monica; Martín, Marta (13 December 2022). "How to qualify for fencing at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained". International Olympic Committee . Retrieved 2 January 2023.
4. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXIII Olympiad – Fencing" (PDF). Fédération Internationale d'Escrime . International Olympic Committee . Retrieved 2 January 2023.
5. Jomantas, Nicole (6 March 2020). "Handshaking Rule Suspended at USA Fencing Events". USA Fencing.
6. Hopkins, Amanda (12 March 2020). "Oceania U20s and Handshaking Rule". Fencing New Zealand.
7. "Handshaking Rule Temporarily Suspended". British Fencing. 5 March 2020.
8. "FIE OUTLINE of RISK-MITIGATION REQUIREMENTS for NATIONAL FENCING FEDERATIONS and COMPETITION ORGANIZERS in the CONTEXT of COVID-19; PREPARED by FIE TASK FORCE and REVIEWED by FIE MEDICAL COMMISSION and FIE LEGAL COMMISSION," FIE, 1 July 2020 and September 2020.
9. "FIE OUTLINE of RISK-MITIGATION REQUIREMENTS for NATIONAL FENCING FEDERATIONS and COMPETITION ORGANISERS in the CONTEXT of COVID-19 (FORMIR – COVID-19) PREPARED by FIE TASK FORCE and REVIEWED by FIE MEDICAL COMMISSION and FIE LEGAL COMMISSION," FIE, January 2021.]
10. "World Fencing Championships: Ukraine's Olga Kharlan disqualified for refusing Russian Anna Smirnov's handshake". BBC. 27 July 2023.
11. Aadi Nair (27 July 2023). "Ukrainian fencer disqualified from world championships for refusing handshake with Russian opponent; Olga Kharlan offered to touch blades after beating Anna Smirnova, who then staged a sit-down protest at the handshake refusal". The Independent.
12. "Ukrainian fencer won't shake hands with Russian at world championships, gets Olympic spot". USA TODAY.
13. Yevhen Kizilov (28 July 2023). "Ukrainian fencer gets automatically qualified for Olympics". Ukrainska Pravda . Retrieved 28 July 2023.
    "Russia-Ukraine conflict: Fencer Olga Kharlan ban lifted as she is handed Olympic spot". BBC Sport . 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
14. "Ukraine's Kharlan assured of Paris 2024 place by IOC after handshake furore". Inside the Games. 28 July 2023.
15. "Paris 2024 Olympic Competition Schedule – Fencing". Paris 2024 . pp. 40–41. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
16. "History made: Eleanor Harvey wins Canada's 1st-ever Olympic fencing medal with bronze". www.cbc.ca/sports/. CBC Sports. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
17. "Koki Kano Gives Japan Its First Individual Olympic Gold in Fencing". featured.japan-forward.com. Japan Forward. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
18. "Oh Sang-uk wins gold in men's individual sabre fencing". koreatimes.co.kr. Korea Times. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
19. "Egyptian Fencer, Mohamed El Sayed, wins first medal for Egypt in 2024 Paris Olympic Games". egypttoday.com. Egypt Today. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
20. "Fares Farjani secures Tunisia's first medal in Paris 2024 Olympics". africanews.com. Africa News. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
21. "Vivian Kong wins Hong Kong's first gold at Paris Olympics 2024". timeout.com. Time Out. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
22. "Manon Apithy-Brunet and the first French Olympic fencing champion". insidethegames.biz. Inside the Games. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
23. "Fencer on Fire Lee Kiefer Matches Grand Palais Grace with Olympic Title Defence". olympics.com. Olympics. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
24. "USA's Lee Kiefer sets record with her third Olympic fencing gold medal". The Guardian . 1 August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
25. "Cheung Ka Long defends Olympic gold to make history for Hong Kong". espn.co.uk. ESPN. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
26. "Lauren Scruggs Makes History as Americans Win Olympic Fencing Gold". The New York Times . 1 August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
27. "S. Korea wins 3rd consecutive gold in men's sabre fencing team event". koreatimes.co.kr. Korea Times. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
28. "Japan win historic gold in men's foil team event at Paris Games". reuters.com. Reuters. 4 August 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
29. "Japan wins 1st ever women's team foil medal in Paris; U.S. takes gold". japantoday.com. Japan Today. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
30. "The Women's Foil Fencers Just Won Team USA's First-Ever Gold in the Event — and First Medal in 16 Years!". people.com. People Magazine. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
31. "Ukraine wins its first gold medal of the Paris Olympics, in women's team saber fencing". apnews.com. Associated Press. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
32. "Historic success. Italy wins gold in women's team fencing at the Olympics". dailysports.net. Daily Sports. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
33. "Czechia nabs bronze medal from France in men's team epee". nbcolympics.com. NBC. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
34. "Poland earns first women's epee fencing medal against China". nbcolympics.com. NBC. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.

External links

• International Fencing Federation
• Results book