Fencing is represented at the Olympia 2021 with the three classic disciplines of foil, epee and saber.
The men's foil and saber teams qualified for Germany, as did Leonie Ebert as the only lady in foil fencing.
Tokyo - Fencing is one of the most exciting sports of all, but spectators have to look carefully to see the hits of the lightning-fast fighters.
Today's sporting fencing emerged from centuries of duels with different weapons.
Fencing has been a permanent part of the program since the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.
At the Olympia 2021, all three disciplines will be part of the individual and team competitions for the first time.
Fencing at the Olympics 2021: the three disciplines and their rules
The lightest weapon is the foil, which is characterized by the Belgian pistol grip and a small protective bell for the hand.
In foil fencing, only the opponent's torso (with the lower part of the protective mask) is the target area.
Duels were once fought with the sword.
The sporting weapon has a stronger blade than the foil, a hemispherical bell to protect the hand and a French handle (with a simple stick).
With the sword, the entire body of the opponent is the target area.
With its flat blade and curved handle, the saber is somewhat reminiscent of its historical ancestors.
The entire upper body including the arms and head is considered the hit area.
In contrast to foil and epee, blows are also considered hits and not just blows.
The fencers are electronically wired during the bout.
One is assigned the color red, the other the color green.
If there is a valid hit, the respective color lights up.
The final decision on the validity lies with the referee.
Fencing at Olympia 2021: tournament mode and schedule
A battle is fought on 15 hits.
The right to attack applies to foil and saber: If both fencers hit, the point is awarded to the attacker.
With the sword, however, double hits are scored.
In direct eliminations, the duration of a battle may not exceed three times three minutes.
If there are still no winners, Sudden Death will be fought.
In team fencing, three fencers each compete against all three fencers of the opposing team.
At Olympia 2021, all twelve fencing competitions will take place in the Makuhari Messe in Chiba.
The schedule of the medal decisions at a glance:
discipline |
date |
|
Men's |
Saber single |
24th July |
Epee single |
July 25th |
|
Foil single |
July 26th |
|
Saber crew |
July 28th |
|
Epee team |
30th July |
|
Foil team |
August 1st |
|
Ladies |
Epee single |
24th July |
Foil single |
July 25th |
|
Saber single |
July 26th |
|
Epee team |
July 27th |
|
Foil team |
29th of July |
|
Saber crew |
July 31 |
Fencing at Olympia 2021: participants and favorites
Nations such as France, Italy, the USA and Russia are traditionally well represented in fencing and are again hoping for medals in team competitions at the 2021 Olympics.
Some favorites among the participants:
Foil (women) - Inna Deriglasowa, Russia:
· Defending champion
· World Champion 2019
· World number one
Foil (men) - Alessio Foconi, Italy:
· World number one
Foil (men) - Enzo Lefort, France:
· World Champion
Epee (women) - Ana Maria Popescu, Romania:
· World number one
Epee (women) - Nathalie Moellhausen, Brazil:
· World champion
Epee (men) - Park Sang-young, South Korea:
· Defending champion
Epee (men) - Gergely Siklósi, Hungary:
· World Champion
· World number one
Saber (ladies) - Olga Kharlan, Ukraine:
· World number one
Sabers (men) - Oh Sang-uk, South Korea:
· World Champion
Fencing at the Olympics 2021: German participants
The German female fencers only narrowly failed to qualify for the 2021 Olympics. Anna Limbach (saber) and Alexandra Ndolo (sword) only had to admit defeat in the final of the qualifying tournament.
Four-time German foil fencing champion Leonie Ebert was the only German participant to qualify.
The gentlemen of the German Fencing Federation, with whom the saber and foil teams were able to qualify in fencing, did better.
Foil team:
Benjamin Kleibrink
André Sanita
Peter Joppich
Luis Klein
Saber Crew:
Maximilian Hartung
Matyas Szabo
Richard Hübers
Benedikt Wagner
Three participants each also take part in the individual competitions. The current world number two, Maximilian Hartung from TSV Bayer Dormagen, expects a medal chance in the saber competition.