title: European Fencing Championships
text: # European Fencing Championships
  
  The European Fencing Championships is an annual top-level European fencing competition organized by the European Fencing Confederation.
  
  ## History
  
  The first competition bearing the name of "European Fencing Championships" was held in Paris in 1921. The International Fencing Federation (FIE) comprised only European federations at the time, with the exception of the United States. In 1936, on the 25th anniversary of the FIE and at the request of the Italian federation, the FIE congress decided to open the European Championships to all countries and granted retroactive recognition of the European Championships as World Championships.
  
  After 1937 the FIE focused on the organisation of the World Fencing Championships. Demand for European Championships appeared at the 1979 congress, but it was rejected on the ground that they would either belittle the World Championships or offer a poor fencing level. The question was put forth again the following year by the Yugoslav federation, with the support of the Italian federation, which offered to organize the first competition. The congress agreed to authorize such championships, on the condition that they would be held only when the World Championships were organized in a non-European country. The first edition took place in Foggia, Italy on 11 and 12 November 1981. They proved to cause no interference with the 1981 World Championships and the restriction was lifted.
  
  ## Formula
  
  Contrary to the World Championships and the World Cup, no exemption is granted to Top 16 fencers: all fence a round of pools, which eliminates 20% to 30% of participants. The remaining fencers compete in a direct elimination table.
  
  ## Editions
  
  ### Editions of European Fencing Championships
  
  | Number | Edition | City | Country | Events |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | 1981 | Foggia | Italy | 4 |
  | 2 | 1982 | Mödling | Austria | 4 |
  | 3 | 1983 | Lisbon | Portugal | 4 |
  | 4 | 1991 | Vienna | Austria | 10 |
  | 5 | 1992 | Lisbon | Portugal | 5 |
  | 6 | 1993 | Linz | Austria | 5 |
  | 7 | 1994 | Kraków | Poland | 5 |
  | 8 | 1995 | Keszthely | Hungary | 5 |
  | 9 | 1996 | Limoges | France | 5 |
  | 10 | 1997 | Gdańsk | Poland | 5 |
  | 11 | 1998 | Plovdiv | Bulgaria | 10 |
  | 12 | 1999 | Bolzano | Italy | 11 |
  | 13 | 2000 | Funchal | Portugal | 12 |
  | 14 | 2001 | Koblenz | Germany | 12 |
  | 15 | 2002 | Moscow | Russia | 12 |
  | 16 | 2003 | Bourges | France | 12 |
  | 17 | 2004 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 12 |
  | 18 | 2005 | Zalaegerszeg | Hungary | 12 |
  | 19 | 2006 | İzmir | Turkey | 12 |
  | Number | Edition | City | Country | Events |
  | 20 | 2007 | Ghent | Belgium | 12 |
  | 21 | 2008 | Kyiv | Ukraine | 12 |
  | 22 | 2009 | Plovdiv | Bulgaria | 12 |
  | 23 | 2010 | Leipzig | Germany | 12 |
  | 24 | 2011 | Sheffield | Great Britain | 12 |
  | 25 | 2012 | Legnano | Italy | 12 |
  | 26 | 2013 | Zagreb | Croatia | 12 |
  | 27 | 2014 | Strasbourg | France | 12 |
  | 28 | 2015 | Montreux | Switzerland | 12 |
  | 29 | 2016 | Toruń | Poland | 12 |
  | 30 | 2017 | Tbilisi | Georgia | 12 |
  | 31 | 2018 | Novi Sad | Serbia | 12 |
  | 32 | 2019 | Düsseldorf | Germany | 12 |
  | – | $2020^1$ | Minsk | Belarus | 12 |
  | – | $2021^1$ | Plovdiv | Bulgaria | 12 |
  | 33 | 2022 | Antalya | Turkey | 12 |
  | 34 | 2023 | Plovdiv | Bulgaria | 6 |
  | Kraków | Poland | 6 |
  
  $^1$ 2020 and 2021 European Fencing Championships were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
  
  ## Medal table
  
  Last updated after the 2023 European Fencing Championships.
  
  | Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Italy | 77 | 60 | 90 | 227 |
  | 2 | Russia | 76 | 67 | 66 | 209 |
  | 3 | France | 43 | 47 | 69 | 159 |
  | 4 | Hungary | 34 | 36 | 51 | 121 |
  | 5 | Germany | 33 | 29 | 61 | 123 |
  | 6 | Poland | 17 | 23 | 45 | 85 |
  | 7 | Romania | 16 | 16 | 26 | 58 |
  | 8 | Ukraine | 14 | 17 | 32 | 63 |
  | 9 | Switzerland | 7 | 6 | 11 | 24 |
  | 10 | Estonia | 3 | 9 | 10 | 22 |
  | 11 | Austria | 3 | 5 | 10 | 18 |
  | 12 | Georgia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
  | 13 | Belarus | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
  | 14 | Spain | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
  | 15 | West Germany | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
  | 16 | Azerbaijan | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
  | 17 | Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
  | 18 | Portugal | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
  | 19 | Israel | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
  | 20 | Greece | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
  | 21 | Bulgaria | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
  | 21 | Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
  | 23 | Belgium | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
  | 24 | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
  | 25 | Denmark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
  | 26 | Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
  | 27 | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
  | 27 | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
  | Totals (28 entries) | Totals (28 entries) | 337 | 337 | 515 | 1189 |
  
  ## Multiple gold medalists
  
  Boldface denotes active fencers and highest medal count among all fencers (including these who not included in these tables) per type.
  
  ### Men
  
  **All events**
  
  | Rank | Fencer | Country | Weapon | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Aleksey Yakimenko | Russia | Sabre | 2003 | 2017 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 23 |
  | 2 | Stanislav Pozdnyakov | Russia | Sabre | 1994 | 2008 | 13 | – | 4 | 17 |
  | 3 | Andrea Cassarà | Italy | Foil | 2002 | 2019 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 15 |
  | 4 | Andrea Baldini | Italy | Foil | 2004 | 2016 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 15 |
  | 5 | Gábor Boczkó | Hungary | Épée | 1997 | 2015 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
  | 6 | Géza Imre | Hungary | Épée | 1998 | 2013 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
  | 7 | Aleksey Frosin | Russia | Sabre | 1997 | 2008 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
  | 8 | Yannick Borel | France | Épée | 2011 | 2022 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
  | 9 | Aldo Montano | Italy | Sabre | 2002 | 2019 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
  | 10 | Erwann Le Péchoux | France | Foil | 2003 | 2019 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
  
  **Individual events**
  
  | Rank | Fencer | Country | Weapon | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Aleksey Yakimenko | Russia | Sabre | 2003 | 2016 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
  | 2 | Stanislav Pozdnyakov | Russia | Sabre | 1994 | 2007 | 5 | – | 2 | 7 |
  | 3 | Andrea Cassarà | Italy | Foil | 2002 | 2015 | 4 | 1 | – | 5 |
  | 4 | Yannick Borel | France | Épée | 2016 | 2022 | 4 | – | – | 4 |
  | 5 | Gábor Boczkó | Hungary | Épée | 1997 | 2015 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
  | 6 | Andrea Baldini | Italy | Foil | 2005 | 2013 | 3 | – | 3 | 6 |
  | 7 | Pavel Kolobkov | Russia | Épée | 1996 | 2006 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
  | 8 | Daniele Garozzo | Italy | Foil | 2015 | 2022 | 2 | 3 | – | 5 |
  | 9 | Aleksey Cheremisinov | Russia | Foil | 2011 | 2019 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
  | 10 | Max Hartung | Germany | Sabre | 2011 | 2019 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
  
  ### Women
  
  **All events**
  
  | Rank | Fencer | Country | Weapon | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Sofya Velikaya | Russia | Sabre | 2003 | 2019 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 23 |
  | 2 | Valentina Vezzali | Italy | Foil | 1993 | 2015 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 21 |
  | 3 | Elisa Di Francisca | Italy | Foil | 2004 | 2019 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 18 |
  | 4 | Arianna Errigo | Italy | Foil | 2009 | 2022 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 19 |
  | 5 | Olha Kharlan | Ukraine | Sabre | 2005 | 2022 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 21 |
  | 6 | Ana Maria Popescu (Brânză) | Romania | Épée | 2006 | 2016 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 13 |
  | 7 | Simona Gherman (Alexandru) | Romania | Épée | 2008 | 2016 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
  | 8 | Yekaterina Dyachenko | Russia | Sabre | 2006 | 2016 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
  | 9 | Yelena Nechayeva | Russia | Sabre | 2000 | 2007 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
  | 10 | Yana Egorian | Russia | Sabre | 2013 | 2019 | 6 | 1 | – | 7 |
  
  **Individual events**
  
  | Rank | Fencer | Country | Weapon | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | Olha Kharlan | Ukraine | Sabre | 2006 | 2019 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
  | 2 | Valentina Vezzali | Italy | Foil | 1993 | 2014 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
  | 3 | Sofya Velikaya | Russia | Sabre | 2005 | 2019 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
  | 4 | Elisa Di Francisca | Italy | Foil | 2006 | 2019 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
  | 5 | Laura Badea-Cârlescu | Romania | Foil | 1993 | 2004 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
  | 6 | Sylwia Gruchała | Poland | Foil | 2000 | 2005 | 3 | – | – | 3 |
  | 7 | Arianna Errigo | Italy | Foil | 2009 | 2022 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
  | 8 | Inna Deriglazova | Russia | Foil | 2010 | 2019 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
  | 9 | Sabine Bau | Germany | Foil | 1992 | 2001 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
  | 9 | Yekaterina Fedorkina | Russia | Sabre | 2004 | 2008 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
  