This article forms part of a series of reports which accompany the 2022-23 BF Annual Report.
In this report:
The work to support our GBR athletes to international success forms part of the BF Athlete Development Programme (ADP). This is a six weapon programme, based on the BF Fencer Pathway Model, that exists to support athletes in achieving GBR Olympic success and inspiring others. It covers athletes from age 15 to 35 (and beyond for those performing at Olympic level) who are moving through a defined development pathway to success at the highest level of fencing.
The weapon strategy elements of “time on task” and “appropriate competition” has been brought to life through representation at international competition for Cadets, Junior, and Seniors.
In 2022-2023 there were 1529 individual entries, 223 fencers with an average of 6.8 events per fencer), this compared to 2021-2022 where 238 fencers across 1123 individual entries (4.7 events per fencer). A greater up take in the satellite and U23 competitions resulted in a wider range of competitions entered – from 77 to 117.
Performances continue to improve in the U17 and U20, with the start of the financial year delivering the best results ever at the 2022 U17 and U20 World Championships. Subsequently a total of 33 medals were achieved across Cadet, Junior, U23s and Senior age ranges in the season ending July 2023.
In April 2023 Amelie Tsang became the first British female Cadet World Champion winning the Cadet World Championships, and in June 2023 Will Deary won Britain’s first sabre medal in the history of the European Games.
In December 2022, Carolina Stutchbury achieved U20 World #1 in Women’s foil.
Following on from transfer of responsibilities from British Disability Fencing, BF has been working to integrate wheelchair fencing into the lower ends of the pathway offering, and supporting the work of UKSI in delivery of the Para Fencing World Class Programme funded by UK Sport. In March 2023, Gemma Collis, became Britain’s first female para fencer to reach world number one in Women’s Epee Cat A for Para Fencing.
Funding sources to support our GBR athletes included: Sport England ‘Talent‘, UK Sport Progression (includes ‘National Teams) UK Sport Podium (one named athlete), The BF Charity, The Epee Club, although the majority of the cost of competing on the international circuit continues to lie with the athletes (and/or their families).
Medal Table
(reflecting 2022-23 season ending July 2023, bracketed numbers are the totals for that age group)
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
| Cadet – Non- Nominated | 2 | 2 | ||
| Cadet – Nominated | 2 | 6 | 5 | 13 |
| Cadet – Major Championship | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 (18) |
| Junior – Non- Nominated | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Junior – Nominated | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Junior – Major Championship | 1 | 1 (7) | ||
| EFC U23 Event | 3 | 3 | ||
| FIE Satellite Event | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| FIE Senior Event | 1 | 1 (8) | ||
| Total | 7 | 8 | 18 | 33 |
Note: This report covers competitions from February 23 to July 2023. Whilst some fall out the Financial year, from a fencing perspective this is considered the period of Major Championships across all the age groups Cadets, Juniors, U23’s and Seniors.
Cadet and Junior European Championships Tallinn, Estonia:
Full squads were selected across the six weapon with several athletes fencing both cadet and juniors.
Other notable performances:
Cadet and Junior World Championships Plovdiv, Bulgaria:
Full junior squads across the six weapons were selected, individual cadets that had achieved the qualification standards. Some cadets were selected to junior teams as part of building future teams. (NB there is no cadet team event in the World Championships)
BF achieved it’s first Cadet Foil World Champion – Full report here
Cadet Women’s Foil – Gold (A Tsang)
Other Notable Performances
U23 European Games , Budapest Hungary
BF sent a full six-weapon squad to the 2023 U23 European Championships with a number of athletes who identified the U23 Europeans as their milestone event meeting the qualification standard.
The strategic purpose of this event is to provide the competitive experiences to help transitioning Junior athletes accelerate performances into the Senior space. A young squad took part and overall the results were comparable to the previous season.
Senior European Games, Krakow Poland
The European Games is a multi sport event where GBR is run led by the BOA. Athlete would only attend if they met the Qualification Standard. 13 across all 6 weapons attended with a Senior Men’s and Women’s Foil Team
BF achieved its first European Games medal in Men’s sabre – Full Report Here
Senior Men’s Sabre, Bronze (W Deary)
Other Notable Performances: Senior Men’s Foil Team 4th
Senior European Championships (Individual) Plovdiv Bulgaria
This additional competition was added at short notice (less than three weeks) and a full squad was sent across the 6 weapons.
Notable Performances:
Senior World Championships Milan, Italy
A full squad of 24 athletes across 6 weapons was sent. Every weapon had at least 1 athlete make it through to the last 64 of the competition. A number of athletes met their personal performance goals and their best ever World Championship results.
(Full report to follow in the Sword)
Alongside the major event results (see above), a number of performances across weapons and multiple age groups show continual improvements. This data is taken from the live performance data published on the BF website and shows all the percentage finishes that meet the minimum performance standards (top 40% finish) from 2022-23 season.
Weapon Performances – Sabre
Notable breakthroughs:
Weapon Performances – Epee
Notable Performances
Weapon Performances – Foil
Notable Performances:
BF would like to thank
And finally, we would like to thank all the athletes who continue to dedicate themselves to developing and achieving excellence in and through fencing.
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