Fencing at the 2024 Paris Olympics
En Garde!
Day One is the start of 9 thrilling days of Fencing competition, where 212 athletes battle it out in 6 individual and 6 team events.
The Basics
In fencing, two competitors, each holding a weapon in one hand, face each other to strike their opponent on a valid target area of the body. The rules differ according to the type of weapon used. There are 12 events in Olympic fencing, with 3 types of weapon used: foil, épée and sabre.
épée: The heaviest of the 3 blades. To score a point you have to contact the tip of the blade to any part of the opponent’s body.
foil: The lightest of the 3 blades. To score a point you have to contact the tip of the blade with the opponent’s torso, shoulder or neck.
sabre: Unline the other two disciplines, in sabre you score a point by hitting the opponent with any part of the blade, not just the tip. The target area is anything above the waist.
The first fencer to reach 15 points or scores the most points at the completion of three three-minute rounds, wins the match. In team fencing, the first team to score 45 points, or the team leading when time runs out, wins. A quick note for viewers, and you’ll see this if you watch the highlight video below, often times there is a flurry of action and both fencers score a point within milliseconds of each other. They both celebrate as if they scored the point, and then the computers & judges determine who was actually faster.
The Format
The 6 individual events all feature a single-elimination bracket with 34-36 athletes competing. Most athletes start in the round of 32, which means it takes 5 straight wins to claim gold. As mentioned above, all matches are first to 15 points.
The 6 team events consist of teams of 3. When teams of 3 face each other, that creates 9 possible matchups. That creates 9 3-minute rounds. Rarely does a match go through all 9 rounds. It’s often a race to 45 points. It’s a single-elimination bracket featuring 8-9 teams. That means most teams start in the quarterfinals, just 3 wins away from a gold medal. In rare cases (we saw it in 2021 with Japan), a team will be seeded 8/9 and win 4 straight enroute to the gold.
What Countries are Historically Dominant?
Here is the medal table going back to 2008:
#1 Russia (8 gold, 7 silver, 4 bronze)
#2 Italy (6 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze)
#3 France (5 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze)
#4 South Korea (4 gold, 3 silver, 7 bronze)
#5 United States (2 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze)
The rest of the top-ten is China, Hungary, Ukraine, Germany, and Romania.
Schedule
Each fencing event is self-contained in one day, with the bracket starting in the morning and wrapping up in the afternoon.
July 27th: Women’s épée & Men’s Sabre
July 28th: Women’s Foil & Men’s épée
July 29th: Women’s Sabre & Men’s Foil
July 30th: Women’s Team épée
July 31st: Men’s Team Sabre
August 1st: Women’s Team Foil
August 2nd: Men’s Team épée
August 3rd: Women’s Team Sabre
August 4th: Men’s Team Foil