Fencing at the 1924 Summer Olympics

The 1924 Olympic fencing program for men consisted of six events: individual and team competitions in three weapons – foil, épée and sabre. But the big innovation in 1924 was that women were added to Olympic fencing competition for the first time with the ladies contesting individual foil. It would not be until 1960 that women got a second Olympic event, team foil. The 1924 fencing events were contested at the Stade d’Escrime de Colombes (épée and sabre) and the Velodrome d’Hiver (foil). France was the leading nation, winning three gold medals and six medals in all, although both Belgium and Hungary won four medals. Italy, normally a fencing power, struggled, winning team sabre and a lone bronze medal as its only two medals. Some of this was due to their team withdrawing after a protest in the team foil. The drama of the 1924 Olympic fencing actually continued after the Games ended, as two actual duels were fought several months later due to disputes over referee decisions during the Games.