Humans have practiced swordplay for thousands of years, but modern fencing did not become a sport until the 15th century, according to Olympic.org. Early competitive fencing began in Italy and Germany when people practiced it as a sport instead of a form of military training. By the 17th century, players were using blunted weapons known as foils and wearing wire-mesh masks. Modern Olympic fencers compete with three blunt weapons: foil, epee and sabre.
Early Olympic History
Fencing has been on the Olympic program since the first modern games in 1896 in Athens. Only three other sports, track and field, cycling and swimming, have been featured at every modern summer Olympics.
Women's Fencing at the Olympics
Women's foil made its Olympic debut in 1924 in Paris. Women competed only with the foil until 1996, when women's epee was introduced at the Olympics in Atlanta. Women's sabre made its Olympic debut in Athens in 2004.
Electronic Scoring
In 1936, Hugh Alessandroni, Alfred Skrobisch and George Baker invented the first electronic scoring machine for fencing, according to USA Fencing. Electronic scoring appeared at the Berlin Olympics that year. Electronic scoring machines record touches and identified whether they were made in legal zones.
Events
Since 2004, the Olympics have featured an equal number of men's and women's fencing events. Men and women compete in individual epee, foil and sabre, as well as team epee and sabre. The foil is a thrusting sword with a flexible blade. The epee is a thrusting sword that is heavier and stiffer than the foil. The sabre is similar to the foil, but players can cut with it as well as hit with its point.
Olympic Stars
Nedo Nadi of Italy remains the only fencer to have one medals with every fencing weapon at one Olympics. He won gold medals in the individual foil and sabre as well as the team foil, epee and sabre events at the Olympics in Antwerp in 1920. In the last two decades, France, Italy and the Russian Federation have dominated Olympic fencing. From 1992 to 2008, France won seven gold medals in men's events and two in women's events, Italy won six gold medals in men's events and seven in women's events, and the Russian Federation won five gold medals in men's events and three in women's events.
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