Fencing is the sword sport of three weapons — foil, épée and sabre — scored electrically on a 14-metre piste, one of only five sports contested at every modern Olympic Games, governed by the FIE.

The Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), founded in Paris in 1913, governs world fencing through 150+ national federations, running the World Championships, World Cup circuit and world rankings.

What are the most important fencing competitions?

The Olympic Games, the annual World Fencing Championships, the FIE World Cup and Grand Prix circuit, and the NCAA championships in the United States.

Fencing — Brief Sports

What is fencing?

Fencing is the sport of the sword, in three weapons: foil (torso target, right-of-way), épée (whole body, no right-of-way, simultaneous hits count) and sabre (cutting edge, above the waist, the fastest of the three). Bouts run to 15 touches on a 14-metre piste, scored electrically — and fencing is one of only five sports present at every modern Olympic Games.^[1] [2]

How does fencing work?

The FIE runs a season-long World Cup and Grand Prix circuit whose points build the world rankings that seed the World Championships and decide Olympic qualification — a fully published ladder. National federations select teams; in the United States, NCAA fencing is a genuine pathway, and American fencers have become Olympic medal contenders in every weapon.^[2] [3]

Where is fencing strong?

Italy and France are the historic superpowers, with Hungary's sabre school legendary, and Japan, South Korea, the United States, Georgia (Sandro Bazadze's 2025 home world title), Egypt and Ukraine all at the front of the modern rankings.^[2] [4]

How is fencing awarded?

Olympic and world medals across twelve events — individual and team, three weapons.^[3]
FIE world rankings — season points from the World Cup circuit, Olympic-qualifying.^[2]
NCAA titles and All-America honors in the U.S. college game.^[5]
National-team selection for Worlds and the Games.^[2]

Who has won the most in fencing?

Olympic fencing, all weapons, individual and team. Edoardo Mangiarotti's thirteen medals remain the most by any fencer. Soviet Union, Russia and ROC are separate rows, as the source counts them. Ranked by total, then gold, then silver; through Paris 2024.

Most Olympic fencing medals — men

Rank	Name	Country	Years	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Edoardo Mangiarotti	Italy	1936–1960	6	5	2	13
2	Aladár Gerevich	Hungary	1932–1960	7	1	2	10
3	Giulio Gaudini	Italy	1924–1936	3	4	2	9
4=	Philippe Cattiau	France	1920–1936	3	4	1	8
4=	Roger Ducret	France	1920–1928	3	4	1	8
6	Pál Kovács	Hungary	1936–1960	6	0	1	7
7	Gustavo Marzi	Italy	1928–1936	2	5	0	7
8=	Rudolf Kárpáti	Hungary	1948–1960	6	0	0	6
8=	Nedo Nadi	Italy	1912–1920	6	0	0	6
10=	Christian d'Oriola	France	1948–1960	4	2	0	6
10=	Lucien Gaudin	France	1908–1928	4	2	0	6
10=	Giuseppe Delfino	Italy	1952–1964	4	2	0	6

Most Olympic fencing medals — women

Rank	Name	Country	Years	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Valentina Vezzali	Italy	1996–2012	6	1	2	9
2	Giovanna Trillini	Italy	1992–2008	4	1	3	8
3	Ildikó Rejtő-Ujlaky-Sági	Hungary	1960–1976	2	3	2	7
4	Yelena Novikova-Belova	Soviet Union	1968–1980	4	1	1	6
5	Olha Kharlan	Ukraine	2008–2024	2	1	3	6
6	Galina Gorokhova	Soviet Union	1960–1972	3	1	1	5
7	Sofya Velikaya	Russia (2008–16), ROC (2020)	2008–2020	2	3	0	5
8	Laura Flessel-Colovic	France	1996–2012	2	1	2	5
9	Sabine Bau	West Germany (1988), Germany (1992–2000)	1988–2000	1	2	2	5
10	Tatyana Petrenko-Samusenko	Soviet Union	1960–1972	3	1	0	4

All-time Olympic fencing medal table by country

Rank	Name	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Italy	50	49	36	135
2	France	45	47	38	130
3	Hungary	39	25	29	93
4	Soviet Union	18	15	16	49
5	United States	6	12	19	37
6	Russia	13	5	8	26
7	Germany	6	8	11	25
8	Poland	4	9	10	23
9	South Korea	7	4	8	19
10	Romania	4	6	7	17

Ties are broken by gold, then silver; a tie at tenth place is shown in full when four or fewer share it. Historic teams are kept as separate rows exactly as the source counts them. Verified September 2026.^[6] [7]

References

Encyclopaedia Britannica — Fencing. Accessed August 2026.
FIE — official site. Accessed August 2026.
Olympics.com — Fencing. Accessed August 2026.
FIE — 2025 Tbilisi Fencing World Championships. Accessed August 2026.
NCAA — Fencing. Accessed August 2026.
Olympedia — Fencing: all-time medal table and most successful competitors. Accessed September 2026.
Olympedia — medals by athlete (discipline Fencing, Olympic Games), each athlete's results page re-counted. Accessed September 2026.