History
Fencing is one of only four sports that have been in every Olympics since 1896. The men's foil and men's sabre were on the program that year. They are among just 15 events that have been on every modern Olympic program. (Twelve of the others are track and field events. The fifteenth is the men's 1500-meter freestyle swim.)
There was also a masters foil competition in 1896, for fencing instructors, who were considered professionals. The epee was added in 1900, along with masters competition in both epee and sabre.
Masters events were discontinued after 1906. Since then, team championships have been added for all three weapons.
The first women's event was the foil, added in 1924. The women's epee became an Olympic event in 1996.
Through 1980, fencers took part in round robin competition and results were based on the won-lost records. In 1984, a single-elimination tournament replaced the round robin.