The Numbers Are In: Fencing Remains One of the Safest Combat Sports

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Fencing has long been regarded as the safest combat sport in the world. Now, thanks to a comprehensive data analysis spanning six seasons and more than 637,000 direct elimination bouts, USA Fencing has the numbers to back it up.

The study, conducted by USA Fencing's Data Resource Team using Fencing Time Live data collected between August 2019 and July 2025, found that medical withdrawals from direct elimination bouts occurred at a rate of just 0.338% — roughly one withdrawal for every 296 bouts. Of the 44,527 unique competitive fencers analyzed, only 3.9% experienced even a single medical withdrawal over the entire six-season period, and 83% of those fencers withdrew just once.

For parents considering fencing for their children, the findings are especially reassuring. The youngest competitors (fencers age 10 and under) had some of the lowest medical withdrawal rates of any group, and athletes in their first year of competition were also among the least likely to medical withdraw. The Y8 event category recorded a medical withdrawal rate of just 0.102%, or roughly one per 978 bouts.

It's worth noting that a medical withdrawal doesn't necessarily mean an injury occurred during a bout. The designation covers a wide range of situations, from illness and dehydration to muscle cramps and pre-existing conditions. In many cases, the issue may have developed during training or a previous bout rather than the bout from which the fencer withdrew.

When a medical issue does arise on the strip, USA Fencing's sports medicine staff is trained to respond quickly. In most cases, the team is able to treat the problem on-site and get the fencer back into competition.

The analysis also found that no single factor drives medical withdrawals. Instead, the data pointed to a combination of factors common across all athletic endeavors: as fencers compete in more events, face more experienced opponents and reach higher levels of competition, medical withdrawal rates tend to increase modestly. Even at the highest levels, however, the rates remained well below 1%.

Among weapons, epee recorded the lowest medical withdrawal rate at 0.261%, while foil was highest at 0.393%. Gender did not play a consistent role in withdrawal rates, with the data showing that male and female fencers experienced medical withdrawals at similar overall rates.

As the sport continues to grow (the number of active competitive members has increased every year since the 2020-21 season), USA Fencing is committed to using data like this to guide its safety programs and keep medical withdrawal rates low across all age groups, skill levels and weapons.

The full report, "Identifying Competition Safety Focal Points," is available here. Fencers, parents and coaches who want to explore the complete findings, including breakdowns by weapon, age, rating and competitive tenure, are encouraged to read the analysis in its entirety.