Fencing is one of the most storied sports on the program at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Fencing's origins can be traced all the way back to swordplay, which has been practiced for thousands of years. While fencing can be linked specifically back to French, Italian and German masters, the sport has since become widespread and is practiced all over the world.

In fencing, two athletes holding a weapon in one hand face each other to strike their opponent on a valid target of the body. The rules differ depending on which of the three weapons is being used: foil, épée and sabre. The first fencer to reach 15 points or whomever has the most points when time expires is the match winner. In the team fencing event, the first team to score a total of 45 points or whichever has the highest score when time expires is the winner.

Fencing joined the Olympic program back in the 1896 Athens Games and has been present at every Games since. Women's fencing made its debut on the Olympic stage at the 1924 Paris Games. Women competed only in the foil event until the 1996 Atlanta Games, when women's épée was added. Women's sabre was added for the first time at the 2004 Athens Games.

During the 2020 Tokyo Games, Lee Kiefer became the first American to win an individual foil gold after she defeated Olympic champion Inna Deriglazova,15-13.

The fencing events at the 2024 Paris Olympics will take place between July 27 and August 4. 

There will be six fencing events across the men's and women's tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

• Individual Epée (women’s / men’s)
• Individual Foil (women’s / men’s)
• Individual Sabre (women’s / men’s)
• Team Epée (women’s / men’s)
• Team Foil (women’s / men’s)
• Team Sabre (women’s / men’s)

The fencing competition at the 2024 Paris Games will take place in the heart of the city at the Grand Palais. Located on Avenue des Champs-Elysées in the 8th arrondissement, and along with Pont Alexandre III and the Esplanade des Invalides, Grand Palais is part of a stunning cluster of venues in Paris.

The Grand Palais was originally designed by a group of architects for the 1900 Exposition, with the Olympic Games set to take place in the capital the same year. The building was designed in the style of Beaux-Arts architecture and the nave alone contains 6,000 tons of steel.

The venue has undergone repairs over the years in order to modernize its infrastructure, while also maintaining its original beauty. During the 2024 Paris Games, the Grand Palais will host both fencing and taekwondo before hosting wheelchair fencing and para taekwondo in the Paralympics.

Paris 2024

• Lee Kiefer (women’s individual and team foil): The defending gold medalist in women’s individual foil at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and placed third at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
• Alexander Massialas (men’s individual and team foil): Won silver in men’s individual foil at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze in men’s team foil at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• Nick Itkin (men’s individual and team foil): Finished third at 2022 Worlds and second at 2023 Worlds. Like Massialas, Itkin was also part of the team that won bronze in the men’s team foil event in Tokyo.
• Eli Dershwitz (men’s individual and team sabre): Became the second American man to win an individual fencing world title at 2023 Worlds in Milan, Italy.
• Colin Heathcock (men’s individual and team sabre): Placed first at the 2024 Trophee Luxardo Sabre World Cup in Padua, Italy.