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Olympic Fencing 2024: Where to Watch, Full Schedule
An American husband and wife powerhouse duo is heading to Paris for their fourth Olympic fencing competitions together.
One of the oldest Olympic sports will once again be featured in Paris: fencing. The sword-based combat dates as far back as 1190 BCE in Ancient Egypt, according to NBC Olympics. Fencing was prominent at the first-ever modern Olympics in 1896 and is one of just five sports to appear in every single Games.
Team USA ranks fifth in countries with the most Olympic fencing medals at 33, but is lagging far behind powerhouses Italy and France, who rank first and second, with 130 and 123 total medals, respectively. After failing to take home a gold medal in both the 2012 and 2016 games, American Lee Kiefer won top honors in women's individual foil at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and will have her eyes on a repeat performance in Paris.
RELATED: Where To Watch 2024 Paris Olympics: Complete Schedule
Key fencing athletes to watch in Paris
Husband-and-wife fencers Lee Kiefer and Gerek Meinhardt took the spotlight for Team USA in 2020, and the powerhouse duo will return at the Paris games.
Kiefer will be competing in the women’s foil, after becoming only the second American woman to ever win Olympic fencing gold by taking down the reigning champ in 2020. The four-time Olympian is a seasoned veteran for Team USA, first competing in Paris in 2012. She most recently won bronze at the 2023 World Championships, adding to her 11 medals at World Championships dating back to 2008 when she was just 15 years old.
“You have an Olympic medal, and you’re ranked No. 1 in the world, but the nuances are so fun,” she told TeamUSA.com. “Compared to the last Olympics, I feel like I’m so much more versatile and still always thinking about how I can grow my game.”
Her ”secret weapon”? Her husband, five-time Olympian Gerek Meinhardt, who will join her for their fourth Olympics together as he also competes in men’s foil. The couple met while fencing for Notre Dame, and they still train together to this day. Both also happen to be in medical school together at the University of Kentucky, as they balance that with their fencing ambitions.
Meinhardt was the youngest member of Team USA for the 2008 games in Beijing, and was the first U.S. men’s foil fencer to earn the World No. 1 ranking in 2014. After winning back to back bronze medals in Rio and Tokyo, his goal is to get the gold this time around.
“As a team, we are set on going after that gold medal that’s eluded us the past few games,” he told Olympics.com. “We’re really excited. We’re going in hungry, and we’re going to do everything we can to prepare as a team and then put it all out there.”
How to watch Olympic fencing
Every day during the Summer Olympics, NBC will offer fans at least nine hours of daytime coverage of the Games’ most exciting events, including live finals coverage of swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and more. Considering the time difference (Paris is six hours ahead of the U.S.’s eastern time zone), fans will be able to watch the day’s most popular events live on NBC in the morning and afternoon. NBC will also deliver an enhanced Olympics primetime show each night, providing three hours of must-see entertainment.
In addition, every event from the Summer Olympics will be broadcast live on Peacock, which will be home to an innovative Olympics hub that will include "curated rails of live and upcoming events, dedicated in-depth hubs for nearly 40 sports, medal standings and an interactive schedule."
Complete schedule for Olympic fencing events
Saturday, July 27
4:00 a.m ET: Women’s Epee & Men’s Sabre Eliminations
1:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Epee & Men’s Sabre Bronze/ Gold Finals
Sunday, July 28
3:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Foil & Men’s Epee Eliminations
1:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Foil & Men’s Epee Bronze/ Gold Finals
Monday, July 29
3:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Sabre & Men’s Foil Eliminations
1:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Sabre & Men’s Foil Bronze/Gold Finals
Tuesday, July 30
7:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Team Epee Eliminations
1:30 p.m. ET: Women’s Team Epee Bronze/Gold Finals
Wednesday, July 31
7:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Team Sabre Eliminations
1:30 p.m. ET: Men’s Team Sabre Bronze/Gold Finals
Thursday, August 1
>5:50 a.m. ET: Women’s Team Foil Eliminations
1:10 p.m. ET: Women’s Team Foil Bronze/Gold Finals
Friday, August 2
7:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Team Epee Eliminations
1:30 p.m. ET: Men’s Team Epee Bronze/Gold Finals
Saturday, August 3
7:00 a.m. ET: Women’s Team Sabre Eliminations
1:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Team Sabre Bronze/Gold Finals
Sunday, August 4
5:50 a.m. ET: Men’s Team Foil Eliminations
1:10 p.m. ET: Men’s Team Foil Bronze/Gold Finals
