Fencing at the 2024 Summer Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fencing at the Games of the 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 →

Fencing is an exciting sport where athletes use swords to score points. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, fencing competitions took place from July 27 to August 4. They were held at the famous Grand Palais. A total of 212 fencers from around the world competed. There were an equal number of men and women. They battled for medals in twelve different events. For the second time in a row, both men and women competed in individual and team events. They used all three types of fencing swords: foil, épée, and sabre.

How Fencers Qualified for Paris 2024

Getting into the Olympics is a big deal for fencers. For the Paris 2024 Games, 212 spots were available. These spots were split evenly between men and women. Each country, called a National Olympic Committee (NOC), could send up to eighteen fencers. This meant nine men and nine women. Each team event needed three fencers.

Earning a Spot: World Rankings and Tournaments

Most fencers earned their spots based on their world rankings. The Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) kept track of points. These points were earned from April 2023 to April 2024. The best fencers in the world got a direct invitation. Other spots were given out at special qualifying tournaments. These tournaments were held in four different areas: Africa, Asia & Oceania, Europe, and the Americas.

Team and Individual Qualification Rules

For team events, eight or nine spots were open for each weapon. Each team had to have three fencers. The top four teams in each weapon automatically qualified. After that, the highest-ranked team from each continent (Africa, Asia & Oceania, Europe, and the Americas) also got a spot. This was for teams ranked between fifth and sixteenth. If a continent didn't have a team in that range, the next highest-ranked team from anywhere got the spot.

Individual events had between 34 and 37 spots. Fencers who were part of a qualified team automatically entered their individual event. Six more spots went to fencers based on their FIE ranking. Two fencers from Europe and Asia & Oceania each qualified this way. One fencer from the Americas and Africa each also qualified. The zonal qualifying tournaments offered four more spots. These went to countries that didn't have any fencers qualified yet.

Host country France automatically got six spots. These could be used for team or individual events. They still had to follow the total fencer limits. Two extra spots were also available through "Universality rules." These rules help fencers from smaller countries compete.

Olga Kharlan's Special Qualification

In fencing, it's traditional to shake hands after a match. But because of safety rules, the FIE had changed this to a "salute" (like tapping blades). In July 2023, Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan was competing. She is a four-time world champion. She won her match but offered a blade tap instead of a handshake. Her opponent was Russian. The FIE disqualified her for not shaking hands.

The very next day, Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), stepped in. He is also a former fencer. He sent Olga Kharlan a letter. He told her he understood how she felt. He also guaranteed her a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics. He wrote that the IOC fully supported Ukrainian athletes. This showed great support for her and her country.

Competition Schedule

Medal Winners

Medal Table by Country

Here's how the countries ranked by the number of medals they won in fencing:

  *   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 Fencing Medalists

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 Fencing Medalists

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 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

Amazing Fencing Achievements

The 2024 Paris Olympics saw many incredible moments in fencing. Here are some of the highlights:

• Individual Events:

* Eleanor Harvey made history for Canada. She won the country's first-ever fencing medal. * Koki Kano became the first Japanese fencer to win an individual gold medal. * Oh Sang-uk won South Korea's first individual gold in men's sabre. * Mohamed El-Sayed earned Egypt's first individual medal in men's épée. * Farès Ferjani was the first Tunisian man to win a fencing medal. * Vivian Kong won Hong Kong's first women's fencing medal. * Manon Brunet secured France's first gold in individual women's sabre. * Lee Kiefer became only the third woman to win two gold medals in a row in women's individual foil. She is also the first American to win three fencing gold medals. * Cheung Ka Long became only the third man to win two gold medals in a row in men's individual foil. He is also the first person from Hong Kong to win multiple fencing medals. * Lauren Scruggs became the first Black woman to win an individual medal in women's foil.

• Team Events:

* Japan's men's foil team was the first non-European country to win gold. * Japan's women's foil team won their country's first medal in women's fencing. * The United States' women's foil team was their country's first to win gold in any team fencing event. They were also the first non-European team to win gold. * Ukraine became the first nation to win multiple women's team sabre gold medals. * Italy won its first gold medal in women's team épée. * The Czech Republic won its first medal in men's team épée. * Poland won its first medal in women's team épée.

See also

In Spanish: Esgrima en los Juegos Olímpicos de París 2024 para niños

• 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