On April 1, the Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships will commence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Nearly 1,750 fencers from more than 70 countries are expected to compete, and over nine days of competition, twelve individual and six team world champions will be crowned. The schedule is divided by weapon: sabre in the first three days, followed by foil, and concluding with epee.
Competition will take place at two iconic venues in the Barra da Tijuca Olympic Park: Arena Carioca 1, which hosted baskteball at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and the Olympic Velodrome.
Four fencers return to defend the titles they won in Wuxi, China in 2025. Leading that group is Jaelyn Liu of the United States, who is aiming to repeat as a double champion in both cadet and junior women’s foil. The other returning champions are Julia Yin of Canada (junior women’s epee), Aleksandra Mikhailova of Russia (junior women’s sabre), and Abdelrahman Tolba of Egypt (junior men’s foil).
Another fencer to watch is China’s Qimiao Pan, a double medallist in Wuxi who earned silver in cadet women’s sabre and bronze in junior women’s sabre. Both Liu and Pan have also found success at the senior level, currently ranked 19th and 18th in the world, respectively.
Hosted by the Brazilian Fencing Confederation, the 2026 Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships promise not only thrilling competition featuring the world’s top young talent, but also a celebration of cultural exchange and the emergence of the next generation of champions.