Exactly 100 years since women were first welcomed on Olympic pistes, Asian fencers are set on dominating the podium
When the fencers walk into the Grand Palais on July 27 and 28, they will be echoing the steps of the first women to participate in Olympic fencing 100 years ago. Though fencing has been part of the Olympic program since the inaugural modern Games in 1896, women's fencing made its debut in 1924 at the same venue.
This year, the event will feature a total of 212 fencers, equally split between men and women for the first time in history, competing in individual and team events across all three disciplines: foil, épée, and sabre. One hundred years ago, women only competed in the foil event, and it wasn’t until 1994 that women’s épée events were introduced at the Atlanta Olympics; women’s sabre was not introduced until 2004 at the Athens Olympics. And now, the growing number of fencers from the region show how the piste is truly a level playing field, literally and figuratively.
Vivian Kong Man-wai, epée (Hong Kong)
Épéeist Vivian Kong Man-wai is an esteemed figure in Hong Kong fencing circles, making her mark when she became the first Hong Kong fencer ever to clinch a World Cup title when she won in Havana in 2019. She followed this up quickly with another victory in Barcelona the month after. Kong added two more World Cup gold medals earlier this year, in Barcelona and in Fujairah.
This impressive performance has landed Kong in the world’s number one spot in the women’s épée rankings entering the Olympics, her third. Kong's Olympic journey began at the 2016 Rio Games and continued at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she showcased the precision and speed that has consistently ranked among the top épée fencers worldwide.
Update 28/7/2024: Vivian Kong won gold in the women's individual épée event, bringing home Hong Kong’s first gold at the Paris Olympics, and only its second in fencing. She won over Auriane Mallo-Breton of France 13-12 in overtime.