Fencing at 2024 Paris Olympics: How it works, Team USA stars, what else to know

Here's what you need to know about fencing at the 2024 Paris Olympics .

When did fencing become an Olympic sport?

Fencing made its Olympic debut in 1896 in Athens at the first modern Olympics. It’s one of five sports that has been included in every Summer Games. The other four are track & field, cycling, gymnastics and swimming.

Only three American fencers have won gold medals.

How does Olympic fencing work?

The competitions are designated by blades — the foil, the épée and the sabre. The foil and epee are pointed weapons and fencers use a thrusting motion to score. The sabre is a shorter blade and fencers use a slashing motion to score.

Foil and sabre fencers wear electrically conductive jackets to define the scoring area – the torso in foil and the upper half of the body in sabre. No need for epee fencers to wear the jacket because the target area is the entire body.

In the individual competition, bouts are divided into three periods, each lasting three minutes. The first fencer to score 15 touches on his opponent wins the bout. In team competition, there are nine individual bouts, each lasting three minutes or until five touches are scored. Highest score wins the team match.

A total of 212 fencers will compete at the Paris Games, half of them men and half of them women .

Who are the top Team USA athletes in fencing?

Lee Kiefer, who won the gold in the women’s foil at the Tokyo Games, will be strong contender to make the medal stand again. Her husband, Gerek Meinhardt, is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist in team men’s foil.

Nick Itkin won a silver medal in the men’s foil at the 2023 World Fencing Championships and he currently ranks No. 1 in the world in men's foil.

What’s the international landscape in Olympic fencing?

Italy, France and Hungary spearheaded the longtime European domination of the sport. But Asian nations and the United States have broken through at recent Olympics and are expected to medal again.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fencing at 2024 Paris Olympics: How it works, Team USA stars, what else to know