Team USA Scores Three 'Grand Prix of the Nations' Titles as FIE Congress Wraps in Bahrain

The medals from Manama (all 33 of them!) were already packed away after the 2025 Veteran Fencing World Championships, but Team USA still had more to celebrate in Bahrain.

At today's FIE Congress in Manama, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) handed out its season awards — and the stars and stripes showed up all over the scoreboard.

First up: the Grand Prix of the Nations.

This honor recognizes the country with the best combined rankings across all three weapons — foil, epee and saber — in a single age group. Team USA claimed the title in three of the four categories: Cadet, Junior and Veteran. (France earned the senior title.) That made the 2024-25 season a very good one indeed for American fencers of all ages.

Individual honors brought more red, white and blue. Olympic champion Lee Kiefer OLY was recognized as the top senior women’s foil fencer in the world, another impressive line on a résumé that already reads like a fencing history book.

Team USA also shined in the junior rankings. The Junior Women’s Foil Team shared top honors with Italy, while the Junior Men’s Saber Team was named the best in its category. For the young fencers watching from home, that’s a pretty inspiring example of where hard work and a good team culture can lead.

The Congress also confirmed where future world championships will be held, which is always handy information for anyone who likes to dream about where fencing might take them next.

Here’s the updated world championships lineup:

Junior and Cadet Worlds: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Senior Worlds: Hong Kong, China

Veteran Worlds: Tbilisi, Georgia

Junior and Cadet Worlds: Estonia

Senior Worlds: Uzbekistan

Veteran Worlds: To be announced

Junior and Cadet Worlds: Rome, Italy

Senior Worlds: Not held (Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028)

Veteran Worlds: To be announced