OLYMPIC FENCING

Fencing originated as the practice of swordsmanship to prepare men for duels and warfare. A fencing match is depicted on an Egyptian temple that dates to about 1190 B.C. and the ancient Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, and Romans all had some form of fencing.

The use of armor during the Middle Ages made swordsmanship virtually obsolete. The broadsword was used against armor, but only as a crude hacking device requiring sheer strength rather than skill.

By making armor obsolete, the development of firearms ironically brought swordplay back into prominence during the 15th century. Soldiers once again had to acquire some skill with the sword, and fencing also emerged as a pastime for gentlemen. Fencing masters organized guilds, which taught various moves to initiates while protecting them as trade secrets from outsiders.

The swords of that period were rather heavy, and cutting the opponent with the edge was emphasized. Further, since the sword was frequently a weapon of defense against thieves, tactics included wrestling holds and tricks designed to disarm or immobilize the opponent to set him up for the killing blow.

Fencing as an exercise based on speed and skill began when the longer, lighter rapier was developed in Italy during the 16th century. Because of the rapier's length, opponents had to fight at a distance and quick but controlled lunges, attacking the enemy with the point of the sword, replaced cruder hacking techniques. But the rapier wasn't a good defensive weapon, so the fencer often had to use his gauntleted left hand to parry his opponent's thrusts.

Under Louis XIV in France, a change in fashion led to a new kind of sword. The rapier simply didn't go well with brocaded jackets, breeches, and silk stockings, so French courtiers began wearing a shorter sword. The court sword, as it was known, turned out to be an excellent weapon for fencing because it was both lighter and stronger than the rapier, so it could be used for defense as well as offense. As a result, the modern one-handed fencing technique developed, with the left hand and arm used primarily for balance.

A special version of the court sword, the foil, was developed for practice. Meanwhile, another type of sword, the colichemarde, had been created for duelling. The blade had a triangular cross-section, with slightly concave sides to reduce weight without reducing strength. The colichemarde evolved into the modern epee.

The third of the fencing weapons, the saber, was introduced into Europe in the late 18th century as an adaptation of the Turkish scimitar, used by the Hungarian cavalry. It was so effective that other armies began using it and another variation, the cutlass, became a standard naval weapon.

The saber was originally a very heavy, curved sword, but a lighter, more easily wielded weapon with only a slight bend was developed in Italy late in the 19th century for duelling and fencing. The modern fencing weapon is straight, like the foil and epee, but it still has one cutting edge which can be used to make hits on an opponent.

Fencing is one of only four sports that have been on every modern Olympic program since 1896. The men's foil and saber events were on the 1896 program and the epee was added in 1900. But, because of major disagreements about the rules, France and Italy refused to compete in 1912. The Fédération Internationale d'Escrime, founded in 1913 to standardize rules, is the governing body for international fencing, including the Olympics.

The women's foil competion has been on the Olympic program since 1924. For many years, women fenced only with foils, but the epee was added to the Olympic program in 1996.

There are different sets of rules for the three weapons, reflecting the differences in technique that grew out of their historical background. In foils and epee, a touch can be made only with the point of the weapon. The entire body is a valid target for the epee, but in foils a touch can be scored only on a limited target area. In saber fencing, a hit may be made with the point, the cutting edge, or the forward third of the back edge.

Fencing is a difficult sport to judge, since it's necessary to determine first, whether a hit was made and, second, which came first when the two fencers score hits almost simultaneously. The electrical epee was introduced at the 1936 to score hits automatically. Electrical scoring for the foil was added at the 1956 Olympics and for the saber at the 1992 Olympics.

MEN

	INDIVIDUAL FOIL	TEAM	INDIVIDUAL EPEE	TEAM	INDIVIDUAL SABRE	TEAM
1896	Emile Gravelotte, France				Jean Georgiadis, Greece
1900	Emile Coste, France		Ramon Fonst, Cuba		Georges de la Falaise, FR
1904	Ramon Fonst, Cuba	CUB	Ramon Fonst, Cuba		Manuel Diaz, Cuba
1908	NOT HELD		Gaston Alibert, France	FRA	Jeno Fuchs, Hungary	HUN
1912	Nedo Nadi, Italy		Paul Anspach, Belgium	BEL	Jeno Fuchs, Hungary	HUN
1920	Nedo Nadi, Italy	ITA	Armand Massard, France	ITA	Nedo Nadi, Italy	ITA
1924	Roger Ducret, France	FRA	Charles Delporte, BEL	FRA	Sandor Posta, Hungary	ITA
1928	Lucien Gaudin, France	ITA	Lucien Gaudin, France	ITA	Odon Tersztyanszky, HUN	HUN
1932	Gustavo Marzi, Italy	FRA	Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici, ITA	FRA	Gyorgy Piller, Hungary	HUN
1936	Giulio Gaudini, Italy	ITA	Franco Riccardi, Italy	ITA	Endre Kabos, Hungary	HUN
1948	Jehan Buhan, France	FRA	Luigi Cantone, Italy	FRA	Aladar Gerevich, Hungary	HUN
1952	Christian d'Oriola, France	FRA	Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italy	ITA	Pal Kovacs, Hungary	HUN
1956	Christian d'Oriola, France	ITA	Carlo Pavesi, Italy	ITA	Rudolf Karpati, Hungary	HUN
1960	Viktor Zhdanovich, USSR	URS	Giuseppe Delfino, Italy	ITA	Rudolf Karpati, Hungary	HUN
1964	Egon Franke, Poland	URS	Grigory Kriss, USSR	HUN	Tibor Pezsa, Hungary	URS
1968	Ion Drimba, Romania	FRA	Gyozo Kulcsar, Hungary	HUN	Jerzy Pawlowski, Poland	URS
1972	Witold Woyda, Poland	POL	Csaba Fenyvesi, Hungary	HUN	Viktor Sidyak, USSR	ITA
1976	Fabio Dal Zotto, Italy	FRG	Alexander Pusch, FRG	SWE	Viktor Krovopuskov, URS	URS
1980	Vladimir Smirnov, USSR	FRA	Johan Harmenberg, SWE	FRA	Viktor Krovopuskov, URS	URS
1984	Mauro Numa, Italy	ITA	Philippe Boisse, France	FRG	Jean-Francois Lamour, FR	ITA
1988	Stefano Cerioni, Italy	URS	Arnd Schmitt, FRG	FRA	Jean-Francois Lamour, FR	HUN
1992	Philippe Omnes, France	GER	Eric Srecki, France	GER	Bence Szabo, Hungary	EUN
1996	Alessandro Puccini, Italy	RUS	Aleksandr Beketov, RUS	ITA	Stanislav Pozdnyakov, RU	RUS
2000	Kim Young-Ho, KOR	FRA	Pavel Kolobkov, Russia	ITA	Mihai Claudiu Covaliu, RO	RUS
2004	Brice Guyart, FRA	ITA	Marcel Fischer, SUI	FRA	Aldo Montano, ITA	FRA
2008

WOMEN

	INDIVIDUAL FOIL	TEAM	INDIVIDUAL EPEE	TEAM	INDIVIDUAL SABRE	TEAM
1924	Ellen Osiier, Denmark
1928	Helene Mayer, Germany
1932	Ellen Preis, Austria
1936	Ilona Elek, Hungary
1948	Ilona Elek, Hungary
1952	Irene Camber, Italy
1956	Gillian Sheen, U.K.
1960	Heidi Schmid, Germany	URS
1964	Ildiko Ujlaki-Rejto, HUN	HUN
1968	Yelena Novikova, U.S.S.R.	URS
1972	Antonella Ragno-Lonzi, IT	URS
1976	Ildiko Schwarczenberger, HUN	URS
1980	Pascale Trinquet, France	FRA
1984	Jujie Luan, China	FRG
1988	Anja Fichtel, FRG	FRG
1992	Giovanna Trillini, Italy	ITA
1996	Laura Badea, Romania	ITA	Laura Flessel, France	FRA
2000	Valentina Vezzali, Italy	ITA	Timea Nagy, Hungary	RUS
2004	Valentina Vezzali, Italy		Timea Nagy, Hungary	RUS	Mariel Zagunis, USA
2008

ALL MALE

	DISCONTINUED EVENT	GOLD MEDALLIST
1896	Foil Masters	Leon Pyrgos, Greece
1900	Epee Masters	Albert Ayat, France
1900	Epee for Amateurs & Masters	Albert Ayat, France
1900	Foil Masters	Lucien Merignac, France
1900	Sabre Masters	Antonio Conte, Italy
1904	Single Sticks	Albertson van Zo Post, United States