Australia has never won a medal in Olympic fencing and unfortunately Australia will not be represented in London after the Australians failed to meet the qualification requirements. Internationally, Valentina Vezzali from Italy will be the one to watch in the women's individual foil. The Italian is aiming to become only the fourth athlete to win individual gold medals over four consecutive Summer Olympics.
FENCING FORMAT
There are 10 events on the London 2012 fencing program. Men and women both contest individual foil, epée and sabre. The men contest team events in foil and sabre. The women contest team events in epée and foil.
Competition is run in a knockout format with players and teams progressing through the draw until the finals where medals are decided.
In the individual competition, bouts last for three rounds of three minutes each, or until one fencer has scored 15 hits against their opponent. In the teams competition, teams of three fencers compete against their opponents in nine bouts, aiming to accumulate a maximum of 45 hits.
Foil, epée and sabre are the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The target areas, as well as the blade, differ for the three weapons. The fencer tries to score the total hits needed to win, while at the same time trying to avoid being hit by the opponent. Fencers are connected to an electronic scoring system that indicates if a hit has occurred. Bouts are held on a 14 metre by 1.5 metre piste (platform).
QUALIFICATION AND SELECTION
Fencers qualified for the London 2012 Games according to their FIE Official ranking, their FIE ranking according to zone and through the zone-qualifying events from 15 April - 5 May 2012.
Men's sabre/foil and women's epee/foil - Team qualification
There are 8 teams of three fencers each. The first four teams in the FIE Official Team Ranking qualify irrespective of zone. The highest ranked team from each zone among teams ranked 5th - 16th make up the final four. If a zone is not represented, the next team in official ranking qualifies, irrespective of zone.
Men's sabre/foil and women's epee/foil - Individual qualification
For each weapon there are 36 individual fencers. There are 24 fencers who qualified through the team qualification. The 7 highest ranked fencers in the FIE individual adjusted rankings by zone qualify (2 from Asia-Oceania). The 5 highest ranked fencers in the zone-qualifying events (1 from Asia-Oceania) qualify. A country can qualify a maximum of 3 fencers per weapon.
Men's epee and women's sabre - Individual qualification
There are 30 places for both men's epee and women's sabre. Twelve (12) qualify from the individual FIE Official Ranking. Eight (8) qualify from the individual Adjusted Official Ranking by zone with Asia-Oceania having 2 places. The remaining 10 are from the zone qualifying events with 3 spots available for Asia Oceania.
For all the Nomination and Selection documentation click here>>>
AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC HISTORY
Australia has not yet won a fencing medal at the Olympics. The best-placed athlete has been Greg Benko, who finished sixth in the individual foil in Montreal 1976. More recently, the men's epée team placed eighth in Sydney 2000 and Evelyn Halls finished 12th in women's epée in Athens 2004. Ivan Lund, a four-time Olympic fencer, carried the Australian flag at the Opening Ceremony in Tokyo 1964.
To learn more about the history of fencing and Australia at the Olympics click here>>>