FIE World Championships in Fencing

The World Championships in Fencing is an annual competition organized by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime or FIE, ("International Fencing Federation" in English). The world championships are, after the Olympic Games, the most prominent international competition in the sport of fencing. Contestants may participate in foil, épée, and sabre events.

History

The FIE first organized an international fencing championship in Paris in 1921. The competition in its early years was billed as a European fencing tournament, and the initial participants were members of the fencing federations of the various European nations. In 1937, the FIE, at the request of an Italian contingent of fencers, granted world title status to the annual tournament. (The government of Benito Mussolini in Italy was, at this time, offering national recognition and privileges to winners of Olympic or world titles.) [ cite book | last = Cohen
title = By the Sword | pages = p. 375, footnote ]

Since 1921, the FIE championships have occurred annually, with the exception of all events held during the Summer Olympics after 1960, and an interruption forced by World War II between 1938 and 1947. Events not held during the Summer Olympics [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A14354192 BBC - h2g2 - A Guide to Olympic Sports - Fencing ] ] have the FIE championship at a designated World Cup at the same year.

The three types of events were introduced successively. Men's épée competition began in 1921, sabre in 1922, and foil in 1926. Since 1929, women's competitions in foil have taken place. cite book | last = Cohen | title = By the Sword | pages = p. 372 ] cite book | last = Evangelista | title = Encyclopedia of the Sword | pages = pp. 624-631 ] A women's épée event was added in 1989, and women's sabre in 1999.

The year 1929 also saw the first team competition, in the foil event. Team events for sabre and épée were initiated in 1930. The women's team foil event began in 1932. ] ] Team competition for women in épée and sabre began the same year as the individual women's events (1989 for épée and 1999 for sabre).

Hosts

References

To watch Video of world championships. See www.fencingchannel.tv

Notes

ources

* cite book
last = Cohen
first = Richard
authorlink = Richard Cohen (fencer)
title = By the Sword
year = 2002
publisher = Random House
location = New York
isbn = 0-375-50417-6

* cite book
last = Evangelista
first = Nick
authorlink = Nick Evangelista
title = Encyclopedia of the Sword
year = 1995
publisher = Greenwood Press
location = Westport, CT
isbn = 0-313-27896-2