TBILISI, Georgia, August 1, 2025 – The 2025 Tbilisi Fencing World Championships came to a close after 12 gold-medal events and nine days of competition in women’s and men’s individual and team events in epee, foil and sabre. This was the first time Georgia has hosted a fencing world championship, which took place in Tbilisi’s Olympic Palace from July 22-30.
Overall, 113 nations participated in the Championships with 1008 participants, including 462 women and 546 men. There were a total of 94 women’s and 115 men’s team entries (in all weapons).
Opening Ceremony. The Opening Ceremony for the Championships was held on July 25. Numerous dignitaries visited throughout the week, and Georgian officials attending the Championships Opening Ceremony. Most notably, Mikheil Kavelashvili, President of Georgia and Irakli Kobakhidze, Prime Minister of Georgia were distinguished guests.
In addition, local officials included Irakli Chikovani, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Defense; Paata Salia, Minister of Justice; Tinatin Rukhadze, Minister of Culture; Kakhaber Guledani, Minister of Regional Development; Tea Akhvlediani, State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality; Levan Zhorzholiani, Head of Administration; Viktor Sanikidze, Member of Parliament; David Matikashvili, Member of Parliament; Ilia Injia, Member of Parliament; Giorgi Jincharadze, Head of Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia; Georgian Fencing Federation President Merab Bazadze; and Nino Jerenashvili, Secretary-General of the Georgian Fencing Federation.
Dignitaries from other countries included Deputy Head of Mission of Italy in Tbilisi Fabiola Albanese; Ambassador of Italy in Tbilisi Massimiliano D’Antuono; Minister of Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerbol Myrzabossynov; Diplomat of the Italian Embassy in Tbilisi Andrea Cliento; Italian Olympic fencing gold medallist Aldo Montano; and Representative of the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee (SOPC) Ahmad Albesaili.
Officials from the FIE included FIE Interim President Abdelmoneim El Husseiny as well as all FIE Executive Committee Secretary-General, Secretary-Treasurer, Vice Presidents and members, including FIE Confederation Presidents. Also present were Federation Presidents from many of the 113 nations present at the World Championships.
Shalva Gogoladze, Georgian Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, gave the opening speech, thanking the Georgian Fencing Federation World Championships Organising Committee, and for “putting in the exceptional dedication to ensure the smooth running of the Championships. Thank you to everyone whose work has made it possible for us to host the World Championships today. Thank you also to the government of Georgia, and to the International Fencing Federation for their trust. I wish success to everyone.”
FIE Interim President Abdelmoneim El Husseiny was then introduced to officially open the Championships, and he stated, “We extend our sincere thanks to the President of Georgia, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Sport, and all esteemed Georgian ministers. We also thank the Georgian Fencing Federation, the organizing committee, and all the volunteers who have made this event possible. These Championships are more than a competition — it is a celebration of excellence, respect, and unity through sport. To all athletes: We are proud of your dedication and wish you success on the piste.”
Athlete and referee representatives Anastasia Asatiani (GEO) and Mohamed Ayoub Ferjani (TUN) each gave an oath to support, honour and respect fencing as a sport and the principles and rules of the FIE.
Closing Ceremony. The Closing Ceremony took place on July 30, the final day of competition. “Athletes from around the world have demonstrated remarkable skill, determination and sportsmanship”, said FIE Interim President Abdelmoneim El Husseiny, before officially closing the Championships. “This event has reflected the true values of fencing: Respect, fairness and unity.”
A speech was also delivered by Georgian Fencing Federation President Mr. Merab Bazadze, who stated, “…it is my great honour to thank all of you for making the 2025 Fencing World Championships in Tbilisi an unforgettable success – your dedication brought this event to life.”
The Closing Ceremony concluded with the FIE flag being officially passed from the Georgian Fencing Federation to Mr. Zheng Kang Zhao of the Hong Kong, China Fencing Association for the 2026 Fencing World Championships.
FIE Programmes and Initiatives. A new livestreaming video platform, FIE FencingTV.com, launched in Tbilisi, covering all of the Championships’ events (from the 32 in individual and top-8 in team) with live commentary. Semifinals, finals and medal ceremonies also included live commentary in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. Broadcast television covered the finals, also, in numerous regions and the FIE produced extensive social media coverage of the event on multiple platforms. In all, more than 30,000 registered on FencingTV throughout the week, which enabled them access to the new FIE platform and to watch the World Championships live.
In addition, the semifinal, finals and medal ceremonies were broadcasted live on network television in several areas of the world.
The FIE presented several programmes at the World Championships for the education and benefit of all attendees and participants, with stands hosting informational sessions, games, and other activities. These included Donate Your Fencing Gear!, which accepted donations of good-quality equipment to distribute to less-privileged nations; Fair Play; SafeGuarding; and Clean Sport.
Fencing for the Planet. The FIE hosted a Roundtable to discuss sustainability and environmental responsibility for all member federations as part of its Fencing for the Planet initiative. Several key expert panelists discussed multiple aspects of the importance of this topic, and presented ways in which world fencing can be more environmentally responsible. Panelists included Julie Duffus, Head of Sustainability at IOC (not present but sent a video message for the Roundtable); Natia Iordanishvili, Deputy Head of the National Forestry Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia; Anna Platonova, Head of the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia; Professor Luigi Mazzone, President of the Italian Fencing Federation (FIS); Chief of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit – Policlinico Tor Vergata University Hospital, Rome, Italy; Deqa Niamkey, United World Wrestling (UWW) Development Director and Chair of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) Working Group for Development and Education; Andrea Campos Esquivel, epee fencer from Costa Rica, who also competed at the Tbilisi World Championships; Baiba Brandule, member of the FIE Fencing and Environment working group and also the SEMI Commission; Arno Schneider, member of the FIE Executive Committee and Head of the Working Group Fencing and Environment. Notably, attendees at the conference also included FIE Interim President, Abdelmoneim El Husseiny; FIE Secretary-General, Gulonra Saidova; and President of Georgian Fecing Federation, Merab Bazadze.
Women’s Coaching Seminar. Thirteen women coaches participated in the first edition of the FIE Women’s Coaching Seminar, which was held from July 20-22. It included theoretical and technical sessions, led by Mr. Guennady Tyshler, President of the FIE Coaching Council; Mr. Zoran Tulum (sabre); Mr. Béla Kopetka (epee); and Mr. Kuki Petru (foil), all of whom are coaches from FIE training camps.
With more than 27 hours of content delivered throughout the seminar, it was opened with welcome speeches from FIE Secretary-General Gulnora Saidova and Marie Sallois, Director of Corporate and Sustainable Development at the IOC (via video message). Melissa Alvarenga, President of the FIE Women and Fencing Council, addressed the participants with motivational leadership messages, encouraging them to grow stronger and enhance their coaching skills. Irina Knysch, President of the FIE Refereeing Commission, explained key FIE rules and shared guidance on how coaches can work effectively with referees to support their fencers. Lazar Miceta from the FIE Medical Commission as well as Teodora Visnjic and Hossam Ellaboudy from Safeguarding also addressed the attendees.
A special highlight of the seminar was the presentation by Ms. Deqa Niamkey, Development Director of United World Wrestling and member of the ASOIF Sports Development and Education Group. She introduced various educational opportunities for coaches and led an empowering training session to strengthen and inspire women in coaching.
Participants each received an FIE diploma in the presence of the FIE Interim President, FIE Secretary-General and members of the FIE Executive Committee.
FIE Training Camp. Between July 16 and 21, the FIE hosted its annual Training Camp at the Tbilisi World Championships venue, which brought-together fencers from more than 50 countries for intensive training, preparation and international exchange. The camp welcomed 38 athletes fully supported by the FIE from nations in need of support, along with more than 50 additional athletes joining independently to benefit from top-tier coaches in sabre, foil and epee.
Expert coaching was provided by Zoran Tulum (sabre), Béla Kopetka (epee) and Kuki Petru (foil).
Several camp participants went on to deliver noteworthy performances during the Tbilisi World Championships, demonstrating the positive impact of the training:
- Maria Cojocari (Moldova) – 39th place, women´s individual foil
- Bhavani Devi Chadalavada Anandha Sundhararaman (India) – 63rd place, women´s individual sabre
- Gabriela Maria Lin Hwang (Puerto Rico) – 26th place, women’s individual sabre
Athletes supported by the FIE received full assistance, including international travel, accommodations, meals, competition registration fees and daily allowances.
Athletes’ Commission. The FIE Athletes’ Commission held its election at the Tbilisi Championships, with all participating athletes eligible to vote for seven athlete members. The athletes elected to serve on the Commission include the following fencers:
- Luca Curatoli, Italy
- Ziad Elsissy, Egypt
- Ruben Limardo Gascon, Venezuela
- Bongil Gu, Korea
- Zohra Nora Kehli, Algeria
- Alexander Massialas, USA
- Andras Szatmari, Hungary
Prizes for Athletes. Cash prizes were given to individual and team medallists from the FIE, totalling U.S. $1,020,000. In individual events, gold medallists each received $40,000, silver medallists $20,000 and bronze medallists $10,000. To be shared among registered members of each team, prizes included $50,000 for gold, $25,000 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.
Final Results. Of the 12 events, France won the medal count with six overall and 16 countries earned at least one medal. The top-10 nations winning medals included France with six (2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), the USA with 3 (2 gold, 1 bronze), Italy with 6 (2 gold, 4 bronze), Japan with 3 (2 gold, 1 bronze), _AIN with 3 (1 gold, 2 silver), Ukraine with 3 (1 gold, 2 bronze), Georgia (1 gold), Hong Kong, China with 1 (1 gold), Hungary with 6 (3 silver, 3 bronze), and Korea with 3 (1 silver, 2 bronze).
Listed below are medallists from each event:
Women’s Individual Epee
- Vlada Kharkova (UKR, gold)
- Katrina Lehis (EST, silver)
- Irina Embrich (EST, bronze)
- Sera Song (KOR, bronze)
Men’s Individual Epee
- Koki Kano (JPN, gold)
- Gergely Siklosi (HUN, silver)
- Nikita Koshman (UKR, bronze)
- Masaru Yamada (JPN, bronze)
Women’s Individual Foil
- Lee Kiefer (USA, gold)
- Pauline Ranvier (FRA, silver)
- Anna Cristino (ITA, bronze)
- Martina Favaretto (ITA, bronze)
Men’s Individual Foil
- Chun Yin Ryan Choi (HKG, gold)
- Kirill Borodachev (_AIN, silver)
- Maxime Pauty (FRA, bronze)
- Gergo Szemes (HUN, bronze),
Women’s Individual Sabre
- Yana Egorian (_AIN, gold)
- Zuzanna Cieslar (POL, silver)
- Alina Komashchuk (UKR, bronze)
- Qimiao Pan (CHN, bronze)
Men’s Individual Sabre
- Sandro Bazadze (GEO, gold)
- Jean-Philippe Patrice (FRA, silver)
- Luca Curatoli (ITA, bronze)
- Ahmed Hesham (EGY, bronze)
Women’s Team Epee
- France (gold)
- Team _AIN (silver)
- Korea (bronze)
Men’s Team Epee
- Japan (gold)
- Hungary (silver)
- Kazakhstan (bronze)
Women’s Team Foil
- USA (gold)
- France (silver)
- Italy (bronze)
Men’s Team Foil
- Italy (gold)
- USA (silver)
- Hungary (bronze)
Men’s Team Sabre
- Italy (gold)
- Hungary (silver)
- Romania (bronze)
Women’s Team Sabre
- France (gold)
- Korea (silver)
- Hungary (bronze)
Complete and official results may be found here on the FIE web site. To watch livestream fencing, check out FencingTV.com! Find official photos from this and other events on the FIE Facebook page.
Official website of the 2025 Tbilisi Fencing World Championships: https://fencing.ge
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