Fencing

The 10 events

Men (five events): Individual events in foil, epee and sabre ; Team events in epee and sabre, Women (five events): Individual events in foil, epee and sabre. Team events in foil and sabre.

The format (for the three disciplines)

Individual and team (three fencers) events: Knock-out format leading to quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.

Milestones

1200 BC: Wall paintings in ancient Egypt depict refereed fencing competitions.

1896: Fencing is on the programme for the first modern Olympiad.

1900: Appearance of the epee at the Games.

1924: The women's foil event makes its Olympic debut.

1956: Appearance of the electric foil event in the Melbourne Games.

1996: The women's epee event makes its Olympic debut in Atlanta.

2004: The women's sabre event makes its debut in Athens.

The stars

Christian d'Oriola (France/foil): One of the greats. Double Olympic champion in 1952 and 1956, the latter being the first time electrical scoring came into effect, which he detested. Also won team golds in 1948 and 1952. On top of this, he also won four world titles in both individual and team events between 1947 and 1958.

Edoardo Mangiarotti (Italy/epee, foil): The recordman. 13 Olympic medals, including six golds (one in individual epee in 1952), five silver and two bronze, in epee and foil, between 1936 and 1960. Double individual world champion. Also won eight world team titles.

Rudolf Karpati (Hungary/sabre): A hero for Hungary. Six Olympic gold medals, including two individual between 1956 and 1960. Also won four consecutive team golds between 1948 and 1960. Double individual world champion and five times team world champion between 1953 and 1958.