Olympic Fencing

Histoire

Modern fencing comes from the duelling and military swordsmanship of Europe. The foil was created in 17th–18th-century France as a training weapon, the épée imitates the duelling sword, and the sabre comes from the cavalry sword.

Fencing has been in every modern Olympic Games since 1896, and the FIE was founded in Paris in 1913. Electric scoring arrived for épée in 1936, foil in 1956 and sabre in 1988. Women's foil joined the Olympics in 1924.

Le saviez-vous ?

• The language of fencing is French: "en garde", "prêt", "allez", "touché".
• In épée the whole body is a target; in foil only the torso; in sabre everything above the waist.
• Only épée has no "right of way": both fencers can score at once.
• Italy's Edoardo Mangiarotti won 13 Olympic medals, a fencing record.
• Hungary's Aladár Gerevich won sabre gold at six Olympic Games in a row.

Glossaire des techniques

En garde

ready stance

Lunge (fente)

long attacking step

Parry (parade)

blocking with the blade

Riposte

counter-attack after a parry

Flèche

running attack

Balestra

small jump forward before attacking

Armes et équipement

Foil

light thrusting weapon, torso target

Épée

heavier thrusting weapon, whole body

Sabre

cutting and thrusting weapon

Lamé

conductive jacket for electric scoring

⚔ In the Arsenal

Ropera / rapieiraEspadimFloreteEspada (esgrima)Sabre

Figures clés

• Nedo Nadi (1894–1940) — Italian, five golds at Antwerp 1920
• Aladár Gerevich (1910–1991) — Hungarian sabre legend, seven golds
• Edoardo Mangiarotti (1919–2012) — Italian, 13 Olympic medals
• Valentina Vezzali (1974–) — Italian foilist, six Olympic golds

Sources: FIE — International Fencing Federation · International Olympic Committee