Fencing has a rich Olympic history.

Fencing is one of only four sports to be included in every modern Olympic Games, since the first in 1896. Albertson Van Zo Post of the New York Fencers Club led our early Olympic efforts by winning 5 Olympic medals in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics including 2 gold medals (1 team, 1 individual). 

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games, was a fencer.

General George Patton was a member of U.S. Olympic Fencing and Pentathlon teams in the 1912 Olympics.

The first electronic scoring machine for fencing that was approved for the Olympic Games was invented in 1936 by Hugh Alessandroni, Alfred Skrobisch and George Baker (Columbia University).

Women’s Foil was added to the events at the Olympic Games in 1924. Women’s Epee was added in 1996. The 2004 Olympic Game in Athens, Greece was the first time that Women’s Sabre was an official part of the Olympic program.  United States Fencers Mariel Zagunis and Sada Jacobson won Gold and Bronze in the women’s sabre event at Athens.

Athens was the first Olympics in 100 years at which the United States won a gold medal in fencing.  And it was the 20 year anniversary of the last bronze medal, which was won in 1984 by Peter Westbrook- men’s sabre.  The last individual foil medal for the United States was won in 1960 by Albert Axelrod (bronze) who is also the only US foil fencer in history to achieve a World Championships final  (1958).

For more information, please visit the Olympic Fencing web site.