USA Fencing

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — With five spots on the Team USA fencing squad for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 still unannounced, the stakes are high at this year’s April North American Cup, Division I National Championships and Parafencing National Championships in Salt Lake City.

From April 25–28 at the Salt Palace Convention Center, 1,790 competitors from 43 different states will compete for gold medals and national titles across 59 different events. 

In two of those events, the USA Fencing point standings are so close that the results in Salt Lake City will play a major role in determining who qualifies for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. 

Both events are part of our highest classification level (which we call Division I), and as if the stakes weren’t high enough, they also serve as the national championship for each event:

• Division I Men’s Saber: Begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 25

• Division I Women’s Epee: Begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, April 26

Three Competitions in One

The competition in Salt Lake City is actually three tournaments in one:

• Division I National Championships: The winners in our six Division I events earn the right to call themselves 2024 USA Fencing National Champions in our highest-caliber classification. Past USA Fencing National Champions have included Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion Lee Kiefer OLY (women’s foil), 2023 World Champion Eli Dershwitz OLY (men’s saber) and Olympic Games Paris 2024 qualifier Margherita Guzzi Vincenti (women’s epee). 

• Parafencing National Championships: The winners in our six Parafencing (wheelchair fencing) events also earn the right to call themselves 2024 USA Fencing national champions. In parafencing, athletes in specially designed fencing wheelchairs compete for medals and experience as they continue their quest toward the 2024 and/or 2028 Paralympics. 

• April North American Cup: Junior (under 20) and Veteran (40 and older) fencers will compete for medals and ranking points in the final 2023-24 event of our North American Cup series. The 36 events for Veterans span multiple age classifications: 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79 and 80+. Veteran fencers who place highly in Salt Lake City will earn points toward qualification for this October’s Veteran World Championships in Dubai.

This is truly a tournament for all — from Olympians and Olympic hopefuls to relative newcomers to Veteran fencers, including some who have been participating in the sport for more than 50 years. 

The tournament’s youngest fencer is 12, while the oldest is 86.

How Olympic Qualifying Works for USA Fencing

In fencing Olympic qualification, athletes compete throughout the season for rankings points available at domestic and international tournaments. The three fencers with the most points when the qualifying period ends gain automatic spots on the Olympic team and compete in both the individual and team events.

Fifteen fencers have already mathematically secured their spots for Paris — three per weapon in Women’s Epee, Women’s Foil, Men’s Foil, Women’s Saber and Men’s Saber. 

That means five spots remain — one per weapon for each of the “replacement athletes” (team-only) slots. By default, that athlete spot is filled by the person ranked fourth in the USA Fencing point standings, though a national coach may convene a panel to rule on an alternate selection who finished lower than No. 4, if they so choose.

Based on the current point standings as the Division I National Championships begin, multiple athletes still have a chance to finish in the No. 4 position in both in Women’s Epee and Men’s Saber

Last Time Out: 2023 Division I National Champions

Here are the athletes who won the 2023 Division I National Championships in St. Louis:

• Division I Women’s Epee: Hadley Husisian (Fencers Club Inc., Elite Fencing Academy (VA), Princeton University)

• Division I Men’s Epee: Samuel Imrek (Alliance Fencing Academy)

• Division I Women’s Foil: Maia Weintraub (Fencers Club Inc., Fencing Academy Of Philadelphia, Princeton University)

• Division I Men’s Foil: Nick Itkin OLY (LAIFC)

• Division I Women’s Saber: Nora Burke (Manhattan Fencing Center)

• Division I Men’s Saber: Grant Williams (New York Athletic Club)

Last Time Out: 2023 Parafencing National Champions

Here are the athletes who won the 2023 Parafencing National Championships in St. Louis:

• Parafencing Women’s Epee: Jataya Taylor (Denver Fencing Center)

• Parafencing Men’s Epee: Scott Rodgers PLY (Denver Fencing Center)

• Parafencing Women’s Foil: Jataya Taylor (Denver Fencing Center)

• Parafencing Men’s Foil: Scott Rodgers PLY (Denver Fencing Center)

• Parafencing Women’s Saber: Not contested

• Parafencing Men’s Saber: Noah Hanssen (Salle Palasz, Tri-Weapon Fencing Club)