About Fencing
Take the romantic, swashbuckling epics of Errol Flynn, add
some rules, protective clothing and an electronic scoring
system, and you have fencing at the Olympic Games. Two rivals
stand opposite each other and feint, lunge, parry and riposte
until one scores the required number of hits to win.
Evolved from the ancient form of combat, fencing is one of
only four sports that has been featured at every modern
Olympic Games. It was the first to include recognised
professionals in a medals competition after modern Olympic
Games founder Pierre de Coubertin arranged special events for
professional fencing "masters" in the original 1896 and 1900
competitions.
The clothing has become so protective, though, that officials
modified masks a few years ago to return a "human face" to the
event. Fine, but for intense reality, the 1924 team foil
competition still wins: After the Olympic Games, an Italian
and a Hungarian settled a scoring controversy with a real
duel.
(Courtesy of the Olympic
Fencing Web Site)
