FIE Fencing World Championships 2023: Preview, full schedule, and how to watch live action
The annual Fencing World Championships head to Milan, Italy, from 22–30 July with over 1000 athletes from 155 nations competing in 12 events. Here's what you need to know.
Fencing
The Fencing World Championships are almost here – and this year's event carries extra significance.
From 22–30 July 2023, over 1000 fencers from around the world will gather in Milan, Italy, with Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying points on the line. This is the only World Championships to fall in the International Fencing Federation (FIE)'s Olympic qualifying ranking window, which began on 3 April 2023 and runs through 1 April 2024.
A total of 12 events will be held – men's and women's individual and team events across the three traditional weapons of épée, foil, and sabre.
For the first time since the IOC adopted its most recent recommendations for athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport, independent neutral athletes will compete in an international fencing event, with seven athletes entered across men's épée and all three women's individual events.
Here's what you need to know about the 2023 FIE World Championships.
Fencers to watch at the 2023 World Championships – Men
The French will be a force to be reckoned with in the épée events. They are the top-ranked team and defending team champions, and reigning individual champion Romain Cannone and Alexandre Bardenet are ranked fourth and fifth in the world individually. They will face stiff tests from hosts Italy, world ranked second in the team event and who have world no.s 2 and 7 Davide di Veroli and Federico Vismara entered in the individual event, as well as Japan's individual world number 1 épée fencer Kano Koki. Hungary's world number 3 Gergely Siklosi is also hard to rule out.
In the foil, eyes are on Team USA, who are led by three men ranked in the world top 10. Unsurprisingly, with Alexander Massialas (1), Ferek Meinhardt (3), Nick Itkin (8), and Miles Chamley-Watson (16) in their ranks, the Americans are also the heavy favourites in the team event. Once again, hosts – and defending team champions – Italy will provide a fierce challenge. They, too, boast three men in the world top 10 – Alessio Foconi (4), Tommaso Marini (6), and Daniele Garozzo (10). Their fourth man, Filippo Macchi, is world number 11 – so even he cannot be counted out. And France's Enzo Lefort, two-time reigning champion in the individual event, will attempt a three-peat – something not seen since Ukraine's Serhiy Golubitsky did so from 1997–1999.
The sabre is a different matter compared to the other two weapons: the top-ranked squad, Republic of Korea, may be favoured in the team event as reigning gold medallists, but their highest-rated individual fencer is Oh Sanguk at ninth in the world. It's the Hungarians who need to be watched as medal favourites here, with world number 2 (and defending individual champion) Áron Szilágyi and number 5 Andras Szatmari leading the team. Individually, the top-ranked sabre fencer is Georgia's Sandro Bazadze.
Fencers to watch at the 2023 World Championships – Women
The Republic of Korea produce some of the world's women's épéeists, and world number 2 Song Se-ra is the defending world champion in the individual event who will be counted on to lead her top-ranked team to a repeat too. Kenya's world number 6 Alexandra Ndolo will make her World Championships debut for her father's native country, with the German-born fencer – who won silver behind Song last year – having the chance to make history for Kenya, which has never won a medal at the World Championships. The French, too, will hope to disrupt South Korean title hopes.
France's Ysaora Thibus will look for a second straight title in the individual foil event, but with a vocal home crowd behind them, it may be the Italians who soar this year. The home squad, which won gold in 2022, are also the top-ranked team, while Alice Volpi, Martina Batini, and Martina Favaretto are fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively individually. Japan's Azuma Sera (3) and USA's Olympic champion Lee Kiefer (1) are others who aim to play spoiler.
Emura Misaki of Japan is the defending champion in the sabre, and also enters this year's Worlds as the top-ranked individual sabre fencer. She can expect tough challenges from Greece's Theodora Gkountoura and Despina Georgiadou and France's Sara Balzer and Manon Apithy-Brunet. The Republic of Korea, ranked second as a team, are reigning champions in that event but it is Balzer and Apithy-Brunet's French squad that enter the Championships with the top world ranking.
Schedule – FIE Fencing World Championships 2023
All times Central European Summer Time (UTC +2 hours).
Saturday 22 July
- 08:30–18:00 – Men's sabre, women's épée qualifying
Sunday 23 July
- 08:30–18:00 – Men's épée, women's foil qualifying
Monday 24 July
- 08:30–18:00 – Men's foil, women's sabre qualifying
Tuesday 25 July
- 08:30–15:50 – Women's épée, men's sabre round of 64, round of 32, quarter-finals
- 16:00–18:50 – Opening ceremony, women's épée, men's sabre semi-finals and final
Wednesday 26 July
- 08:30–17:40 – Women's foil, men's épée round of 64, round of 32, quarter-finals
- 17:40–20:35 – Women's foil, men's épée semi-finals and final
Thursday 27 July
- 08:30–14:00 – Men's team sabre qualifying, 9th-32nd place matches
- 08:30–17:00 – Women's team épée qualifying, 9th-32nd place matches
- 10:00–17:20 – Women's sabre, men's foil round of 64, round of 32, quarter-finals
- 17:20–19:45 – Women's sabre, men's foil semi-finals and final
Friday 28 July
- 08:30–17:00 – Men's team épée qualifying, 9th-32nd place matches
- 09:30–16:30 – Women's team foil qualifying, 9th-32nd place matches
- 10:00–13:00 – Women's team épée, men's team sabre quarter-finals, 5th-8th place matches, semi-finals
- 13:00–19:15 – Women's team épée, men's team sabre bronze- and gold-medal finals
Saturday 29 July
- 08:30–14:00 – Women's team sabre qualifying, 9th-32nd place matches
- 08:30–15:30 – Men's team foil qualifying, 9th-32nd place matches
- 10:00–13:20 – Women's team foil, men's team épée quarter-finals, 5th-8th place matches, semi-finals
- 13:20–19:25 – Women's team foil, men's team épée bronze- and gold-medal finals
Sunday 30 July
- 10:30–13:10 – Women's team sabre, men's team foil quarter-finals, 5th-8th place matches, semi-finals
- 13:10–19:15 – Women's team sabre, men's team foil bronze- and gold-medal finals, closing ceremony
How to watch 2023 Fencing World Championships in Milan
You can catch the live action from the FIE Fencing World Championships Milan 2023 Olympic Channel via Olympics.com (territorial restrictions may apply), with competition semi-finals and finals livestreamed from 25th July onward.
Coverage is also available on the FIE YouTube channel and the FIE website.