All 10 medal events on the Fencing programme are run in a knockout format.
In Individual competition, men’s and women’s Foil, men’s sabre and women’s Epée start with a round of 64, although the fact that there are only 39–39 athletes in each event means that some athletes will receive byes into the round of 32. Men’s Epée and women’s Sabre begin with a round of 32, with a maximum of two athletes receiving byes into the round of 16. The draw is based on the existing FIE rankings.
All team events will feature eight teams except those in which Great Britain, as hosts, chooses to enter a team. The draw is based on the existing FIE rankings.
Players and teams progress through the draw until the finals, which decide the winners of the gold medals.
In the event of a tie in both the Individual and Team competitions, athletes fence for a further one minute, with one of the athletes randomly assigned ‘priority’. The first to score a hit is the winner, but if no hits are made during this time, the ‘priority’ athlete wins the bout.
Find out more about the Fencing competition at the Olympic Games on the International Olympic Committee website.
