2025 Fencing World Championships: preview, schedule, how to watch live action

The blades are sharp, the stakes are high, and for the first time in history, the Fencing World Championships are heading to Tbilisi, Georgia.

From 22 to 30 July 2025, athletes from across the globe will compete in men’s and women’s individual and team events across all three disciplines: foil, sabre, and épée.

It’s a fitting location. Georgia, long admired for its proud combat sports tradition, has been climbing the international fencing ranks, with home favourite Sandro Bazadze ready to make history and backed by a crowd that knows a thing or two about warrior spirit.

With world titles on the line and stories waiting to be written, here are the names and narratives to watch as the world turns its eyes to Tbilisi.

2025 Fencing World Championships: athletes to watch
As the World Championships approach, the curtain rises on a cast with dozens of compelling contenders.

Sabre: Emura leads, Bazadze hunts
At the heart of the women’s sabre conversation is Japan’s Misaki Emura, whose current form borders on untouchable. A two-time world champion and Olympic team bronze medallist, she added another continental title at the Asian Championships in Bali and followed it with a clinical win at the Lima World Cup, where she dispatched Spain’s Araceli Navarro in the final. With Japan’s sabre squad consistently reaching finals, Emura arrives in Tbilisi as the fencer to beat.

In the men’s division, Sandro Bazadze carries the weight of Georgia’s hopes. The 2023 European champion and recent World Cup winner in Madrid has already earned world championship silver and bronze; now he seeks the top step of the podium in front of a home crowd. But the road to gold will not be easy. He’ll have to contend with Sébastien Patrice, the world number one from France, his brother Jean-Philippe Patrice, and Tunisia’s Olympic silver medallist Fares Ferjani.

Foil: Kiefer’s composure, Japan’s rise, and America’s depth
Across the Pacific, the United States’ fencing machine remains in strong form. Two-time individual Olympic champion and current world number one Lee Kiefer continues to set the gold standard in women’s foil, picking up her first individual gold of the season at the Pan American Championships. Behind her, Japan’s Yuka Ueno and Sumire Tsuji delivered one of the season’s most thrilling bouts with an all-Japanese final at the Asian Championships, signalling serious depth in the Japanese women’s foil programme.

On the men’s side, the Pan-American final between Alexander Massialas and Nick Itkin highlighted the strength of the American lineup, while Chun Yin Ryan Choi of Hong Kong, China, emerged from a deep field to win Asian gold and reaffirm his place among the world’s elite.

Épée: A battlefield of giants and emerging threats
In épée, top-ranked Egyptian Mohamed Elsayed leads a revitalised squad that dominated the African Championships, winning 11 of 12 individual titles and nearly sweeping the team events. Backing him is an exciting generation of Egyptian talent, including Sara Amr Hossny in women’s foil, and sabreurs Ahmed Hesham and Alanoud Hegazy, whose performances are turning heads far beyond their continental circuit.

But Elsayed faces no shortage of competition. Kano Koki, the Olympic champion from Paris 2024, heads a dangerous Japanese men’s épée lineup alongside teammate Yamada Masaru, a member of the Tokyo 2020 gold-medal-winning team. From Europe, Hungary’s Siklósi Gergely, the 2019 world champion and 2024 Olympic team champion, is also in medal form. Keep an eye out for the French team, too, with Alexandre Bardenet taking Challenge Monal gold in an all-French final and Gaétan Billa still very much in contention.

Perhaps the most intriguing women’s épée storyline belongs to Alexandra Louis Marie of France, who stunned the field in the Wuxi World Cup with victories over teammate and 2023 world champion Marie-Florence Candassamy and the Republic of Korea’s 2022 world champion Song Sera. Yet Song bounced back to claim the Asian title and is sure to bring that redemption momentum to the Worlds, while Zijie Wang of the People’s Republic of China powered through a deep men’s field to signal his own podium ambitions.

And then there are the chaos-makers. Italy’s Gianpaolo Buzzacchino shocked reigning world champion Máté Tamás Koch in Saint-Maur, while American teenager Tierna Oxenreider sent two-time épée world champion Rossella Fiamingo crashing out in the round of 32 in Wuxi. Poland’s upset win over Italy in the men’s team épée final and Romania’s bronze in Madrid serve as reminders that, in épée, perhaps more than any other weapon, anything can happen.

2025 Fencing World Championships: schedule

Tuesday, 22 July

• Women’s épée: Preliminary Rounds
• Men’s Foil: Preliminary Rounds

Wednesday, 23 July

• Women’s épée: Round of 64 to Final
• Men’s Foil: Round of 64 to Final
• Opening Ceremony

Thursday, 24 July

• Women’s Foil: Preliminary Rounds
• Men’s Sabre: Preliminary Rounds

Friday, 25 July

• Women’s Foil: Round of 64 to Final
• Men’s Sabre: Round of 64 to final
• Women’s Team épée: Preliminary Rounds
• Men’s Team Foil: Preliminary Rounds

Saturday, 26 July

• Men’s épée: Preliminary Rounds
• Women’s Sabre: Preliminary Rounds
• Women’s Team épée: Round of 16 to Final
• Men’s Team Foil: Round of 16 to Final

Sunday, 27 July

• Men’s épée: Round of 64 to Final
• Women’s Sabre: Round of 64 to Final
• Women’s Team Foil: Preliminary Rounds
• Men’s Team Sabre: Preliminary Rounds

Monday, 28 July

• Women’s Team Foil: Round of 16 to Final
• Men’s Team Sabre: Round of 16 to Final

Tuesday, 29 July

• Men’s Team épée: Preliminary Rounds
• Women’s Team Sabre: Preliminary Rounds

Wednesday, 30 July

• Men’s Team épée: Round of 16 to Final
• Women’s Team Sabre: Round of 16 to Final
• Closing Ceremony

2025 Fencing World Championships: where to watch

You can follow all the action on Olympics.com or the livestream on FencingTV.com

Article from Olympics.com