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.
The Fédération Internationale d'Escrime, 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.
Peter Joppich is a German foil fencer.
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.
Matthias Behr is a former German foil fencer. He won a gold medal and three silvers at three Olympic Games.
Éric Srecki, born on 2 July 1964 in Béthune, Pas-de-Calais, is a French fencer and a champion in the épée competition at the Olympic and World champion levels.
Olha Hennadiivna Kharlan is a Ukrainian sabre fencer. She is a four-time individual women’s world sabre champion, and a four-time Olympic medalist. She has been ranked #1 in the world in women's sabre for five years: in 2012–14, 2017–18, and 2019–21.
Ilgar Yasharovich Mammadov is a Soviet and Russian of Azerbaijani origin who serves as President of the Russian Fencing Federation, and a former fencer. He is a two-time Olympic and one time world champion in team foil.
Andrea Cassarà is an Italian left-handed foil fencer, two-time individual European champion, 2011 individual world champion, and three-time Olympics medalist.
Weston "Seth" Kelsey is an American épée fencer and three time Olympic fencer. He competed at three Olympiads: 2004, 2008 and 2012. He finished 4th in the individual competition at the 2012 London Olympics.
Richard Kruse is a former British right-handed foil fencer and four-time Olympian. In 2015, he was part of the Great Britain team that shocked Olympic champions Italy to win the first European Games gold in team foil, the first British gold medal in a team fencing event at World or European level for fifty years. He retired in 2021.
Nicole Ross is an American foil fencer. Fencing for the Columbia Lions fencing team, she won the 2010 NCAA individual women's foil title, and was a three time All-American. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she competed in individual women's foil, coming in 25th, while in the team event she and her teammates came in sixth. At the 2018 World Championships, she and her Team USA teammates won the gold medal in the women's team foil event.
Kim Jung-hwan is a South Korean right-handed sabre fencer.
Gu Bon-gil is a South Korean right-handed sabre fencer.
Yannick Borel is a French right-handed épée fencer.
Larisa Viktorovna Korobeynikova is a Russian right-handed foil fencer, 2021 team Olympic champion, 2021 individual Olympic bronze medalist, three-time team world champion and two-time team European champion. She received the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I class in 2012.
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 -- six individual and four team.
The Russian Fencing Federation is the governing body for the sport of fencing in Russia. It was created in 1992. FFR was formerly a member of the European Fencing Confederation, but its membership was suspended in 2023. It is a member of the Russian Olympic Committee.
Oh Sang-uk is a South Korean right-handed sabre fencer.
