Fencing at the Summer Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fencing at the Summer Olympics
Governing body	FIE
Events	12 (men: 6; women: 6)
Games
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Medalists

Fencing is an exciting sport that has been part of the Summer Olympic Games since they first started in modern times. This means fencing has been in every Summer Olympics since the very first one in Athens in 1896. It's like a fast-paced game of tag, but with special swords!

In Olympic fencing, there are three main types of "swords" or weapons, and each has its own rules:

• Foil — This is a light weapon used for thrusting (poking). You can only score points by touching your opponent's torso (the main part of their body, not arms or legs). If both fencers touch at the same time, neither gets a point.
• Épée — This is a heavier weapon, also used for thrusting. With the épée, you can score a point by touching anywhere on your opponent's body. If both fencers touch at the same time, both can get a point.
• Sabre — This is a light weapon that can be used for both cutting (slashing) and thrusting. You can score points by touching almost anywhere above the waist, except for the back of the head and the hands. Like foil, if both fencers touch at the same time, neither gets a point.

Fencing at the Olympics: A Quick Look

Fencing has been a core sport at the Olympics for a long time. Here's a summary of how many events were held and which country performed best in each Olympic year.

Games Year Events Best Nation 1 1896 3  Greece 2 1900 7  France 3 1904 5  Cuba 4 1908 4  France 5 1912 5  Hungary 6 7 1920 6  Italy 8 1924 7  France 9 1928 7  France 10 1932 7  Italy 11 1936 7  Italy 12 13 14 1948 7  France 15 1952 7  Italy 16 1956 7  Italy

Games Year Events Best Nation 17 1960 8  Soviet Union 18 1964 8  Hungary 19 1968 8  Soviet Union 20 1972 8  Hungary 21 1976 8  Soviet Union 22 1980 8  France 23 1984 8  Italy 24 1988 8  West Germany 25 1992 8  Germany 26 1996 10  Russia 27 2000 10  Italy 28 2004 10  Italy 29 2008 10  France 30 2012 10  Italy 31 2016 10  Russia 32 2020 12  ROC

Olympic Fencing Events

Fencing events at the Olympics include individual competitions and team events for each weapon type. An 'X' means the event was held in that year.

Men's Fencing Events

Women's Fencing Events

Women's fencing events were added to the Olympics later than men's. Here's when each women's event was held.

Medal Winners in Fencing

This table shows which countries have won the most medals in fencing at the Summer Olympics. It includes results up to the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Italy (ITA)	49	46	35	130
2	France (FRA)	44	43	36	123
3	Hungary (HUN)	38	24	28	90
4	Soviet Union (URS)	18	15	16	49
5	Russia (RUS)	13	5	8	26
6	West Germany (FRG)	7	8	1	16
7	Germany (GER)	5	7	9	21
8	China (CHN)	5	7	3	15
9	South Korea (KOR)	5	3	8	16
10	United States (USA)	4	11	18	33
11	Poland (POL)	4	9	9	22
12	Romania (ROU)	4	6	7	17
13	Cuba (CUB)	4	3	3	10
14	Republic of China (ROC)	3	4	1	8
15	Belgium (BEL)	3	3	4	10
16	Sweden (SWE)	2	3	2	7
17	Ukraine (UKR)	2	1	4	7
18	Greece (GRE)	2	1	2	5
19	Great Britain (GBR)	1	8	0	9
20	Switzerland (SUI)	1	4	3	8
21	Denmark (DEN)	1	2	3	6
22	Unified Team (EUN)	1	2	2	5
23	Japan (JPN)	1	2	0	3
24	Austria (AUT)	1	1	5	7
25	United Team of Germany (EUA)	1	1	2	4
26	Estonia (EST)	1	0	1	2
27	Hong Kong (HKG)	1	0	0	1
	Mixed team (ZZX)	1	0	0	1
	Venezuela (VEN)	1	0	0	1
30	East Germany (GDR)	0	1	0	1
	Egypt (EGY)	0	1	0	1
	Mexico (MEX)	0	1	0	1
	Norway (NOR)	0	1	0	1
34	Netherlands (NED)	0	0	5	5
35	Bohemia (BOH)	0	0	2	2
36	Argentina (ARG)	0	0	1	1
	Czech Republic (CZE)	0	0	1	1
	Portugal (POR)	0	0	1	1
	Spain (ESP)	0	0	1	1
	Tunisia (TUN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (40 entries)		223	223	222	668

See also

In Spanish: Esgrima en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

• List of Olympic venues in fencing
• Wheelchair fencing at the Summer Paralympics