European Fencing Championships: in Genoa 477 athletes from 42 nations with many Olympic medalists

Genoa is ready to welcome the stars of European Fencing. From next Saturday, June 14, to Thursday, June 19, 477 athletes from 42 nations will compete. Italy, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine are fielding full teams, as are the Russians—also 24 athletes—who will compete under the AIN (Neutral Independent Athletes) banner, alongside the Belarusians.

Here is the full list of participating nations: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Hungary.

Many Olympic medalists from Paris will take to the piste in Genoa. In women’s épée, among the stars and main rivals of our Italian champions are Hungary’s Eszter Muhari, individual bronze medalist at Paris 2024, and the entire French team (notably Marie-Florence Candassamy and Alexandra Louis Marie). In men’s épée, Gergely Siklosi leads the Hungarian team, Olympic champions in the team event in Paris. Meanwhile, Jakub Jurka aims high with the Czech Republic, team bronze medalists in Paris. Moving to women’s sabre, all eyes will be on France’s Olympic silver medalist Sara Balzer, as well as Greece’s Despina Georgiadou and Theodora Gkountoura. The men’s sabre will feature Áron Szilágyi, three-time Olympic champion (London, Rio, and Tokyo), along with the French brothers Sébastien and Jean-Philippe Patrice (both team bronze medalists in Paris) and the formidable Georgian Sandro Bazadze. In women’s foil, the favorites are the Italians, but watch out for the French. Among the top rivals for the Azzurri are the Czech Choupenitch (bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020) and France’s Maxime Pauty (team bronze medalist at Paris 2024).

A “Genoese” in Moldova. In the women’s individual épée, Ionela Berdianu, born in 2004, will compete. She lives in Rapallo and has been registered with Genovascherma since 2020, training under Maestro Roberto Cirillo. She boasts participation in the Cadet European Championships in 2019 and several World Cup events, both as a cadet and in the U20 category.

Schedule. The competition begins next Saturday with the preliminary rounds of women’s foil and men’s sabre at 9 AM at the Jean Nouvel (Blue Pavilion), followed by the opening ceremony (5:45 PM) and finals (6:15 PM) at the new Palasport in Genoa. On Sunday, June 15, men’s épée and women’s sabre will take center stage, starting at 9 AM with preliminaries at Jean Nouvel and continuing at 6 PM with finals at Palasport. The same schedule and locations apply on Monday, June 16, for women’s épée and men’s foil. Team competitions begin on Tuesday, June 17, opening with women’s foil and men’s sabre at Jean Nouvel at 9 AM, followed by the 3rd/4th place finals at 3:30 PM and the 1st/2nd place finals at 5:30 PM, both at Palasport. The same schedule repeats on Wednesday, June 18, with men’s épée and women’s sabre, and on Thursday, June 19, with women’s épée and men’s foil.

Part of the “Liguria European Region of Sport 2025” program, the European Fencing Championships are supported by the European Commission, the Italian Ministry for Sport and Youth, the Liguria Region, and the Municipality of Genoa. The event is held under the auspices of the European Fencing Confederation and endorsed by CONI and Sport e Salute. The Local Organizing Committee, chaired by Beppe Costa, is in charge, with the collaboration of the Italian Fencing Federation. The event’s ambassador is Olympic champion Valentina Vezzali, joined by Bianca Del Carretto, Toni Terenzi, Michele Maffei, Benedetta Durando, Stefano Carozzo, Roberto Cirillo, Giacomo Falcini, and Marco Pistacchi.

Partners of the Genoa 2025 European Championships include Costa Edutainment, Banca Passadore, Silomar, PSA Italy, Saar Port Terminals, Toyota, Gruppo Spinelli, Elah, Riberti, Iveco Bus, Columbus Informatica, Ishi, Mapslate, Montallegro, Noberasco, Controfluid, Homberger, Mediapoint, San Giorgio Sein, alongside the Chamber of Commerce and Genoa Convention Bureau. Thanks to an agreement between the Municipality of Genoa and AMT, athletes and their technical staff will have access to free public bus services. Media partners for the European Championships include Rai, Sky Sport, Italpress, Il Secolo XIX, Mentelocale, and Netweek. Finals will be broadcast live daily on Rai 2 and Sky.

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