It’s that time every four years when our Cinderella sport gets time in the spotlight once again! One of the few sports to be in present in every Modern Olympic games since its inception, this will be a curious year as Russia and many of its medal contenders will be missing. Unfortunately there will be no Brits at Paris this year.
Olympic Fencing Schedule – Times BST
Individual Championships
Date Weapons Qualification Rounds/Finals
27 July Women’s Epee / Men’s Sabre 09:00 – 15:40/18:00 – 21:50
28 July Women’s Foil / Men’s Epee 08:30 – 15:50/18:00 – 22:10
29 July Women’s Sabre / Men’s Foil 08:30 – 15:50/18:00 – 22:10
Individual Fencers and stories to look out for are the Hungarian Aron Szilagyi one of the best sabreurs of this generation looking to get his fourth Olympic gold in a row, and the technically adroit Lee Kiefer the American Women’s Foilist looking to defend her Tokyo Gold.
Team Competitions
Date Weapons Qualification Rounds/Finals
30 July Women’s Epee Team 11:00 – 16:30/18:30 – 20:40
Women’s Epee Teams: Italy, Korea, Poland, France, Ukraine, USA, China, Egypt
31 July Men’s Sabre Team 11:00 – 16:30/18:30 – 20:40
Men’s Sabre Teams: Korea, USA, Hungary, France, Italy, Iran, Egypt, Canada
1 August Women’s Foil Team 09:00 – 16:10/18:10 – 21:00
Women’s Foil Teams: Italy, USA, France, Japan, Canada, China, Poland, Egypt.
2 August Men’s Epee Team 11:00 – 16:30/18:30 – 20:40
Men’s Epee Teams: France, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Czech Republic, Egypt
3 August Women’s Sabre Team 10:30 – 16:00/18:00 – 20:10
Women’s Sabre Teams: France, Hungary, Korea, Ukraine, USA, Italy, Japan, Algeria
4 August Men’s Foil Team 09:00 – 16:10/18:10 – 21:00
Men’s Foil Teams: Japan, Italy, USA, France, China, Egypt, Poland, Canada
Team competitions are often overlooked in fencing, but its a great way to see the “rock, paper, scissors” format of contrasting styles, that force fencers to use a greater variety of tactics depending on if they are trying to defend a teams lead, stymie an particularly powerful opponent, or finish off a fight. France are hosts so have an automatic entry in each format, but Italy have managed to qualify a team in each category in hopes of banishing the Tokyo Blues they suffered at the last Olympics. Matches to look out for are the almost inevitable South Korea-Hungary Sabre rivalry, and the Polish and Egyptian teams which look to cause some upsets.
Where to Watch
The BBC is the official television broadcaster for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games with events being shown live on BBC Sport channels, the Red Button and the BBC iPlayer. Subscription service, Discovery+ also have rights to show the Games in Europe and Eurosport may also have rights to show some of the live action. Keep an eye out in the weeks leading up to the Games. For the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, Discovery+ allowed viewers to subscribe for free for the duration of those Games and may well offer a similar deal. If they do, don’t forget to cancel your subscription when the Games end! The Olympics will also have its own streaming channel where some sports will be shown live and on demand.
GFM