A strong GBR outing at the 2026 Para Fencing World Cup in Budapest, with Dimitri Coutya victorious across all three Cat B events and Piers Gilliver winning gold in the Men’s Epee Cat A.
The most recent Para Fencing World Cup took place in Budapest, Hungary, on 19th-22nd March 2026. Standout performances came from Piers Gilliver and Dimitri Coutya. Piers took gold in the individual Men’s Epee A event, while Dimitri swept the board with gold medals in the individual Men’s Epee, Foil and Sabre B events. With this achievement, Dimitri made history by becoming the first GBR para athlete to win gold in all three individual events at a World Cup.
Day One:
On the first day of the World Cup, Dimitri went straight into the direct elimination round of the Men’s Foil B seeded first. He made quick work of his subsequent matches, winning 15-4 against Adam Jablonski (POL); 15-2 against Jicheng Wang (CHN); and 15-2 against Oleg Naumenko (UKR). Now in the final, Dimitri fought won Italy’s Michele Massa, winning 15-12 to take the gold medal.
Full results:
Day Two:
The success continued to the second day, with Dimitri and Piers winning the Men’s Epee B and A events, respectively. Seeded second, Dimitri earned a bye into the last 16 to face Balwinder Cheema (GER), winning 15-6 to go through to the quarterfinals. There, he won 15-11 against Alexey Vaniev (AIN) to secure a medal. A 15-11 victory against Jovane Guissone (BRA) earned Dimitri a place in the final, where he defeated Peter Yohan (FRA) 15-7 to take the title.
Likewise seeded second, Piers Gilliver earned a bye into the last 32 of the Men’s Epee A competition. His first opponent was Michal Nalewajek (POL), whom he defeated 15-12. He then turned to Quentin Fernandez-Anssoux (FRA), delivering a swift 15-3 victory. Piers went on to defeat Emanuele Lambertini (ITA) 15-5 and Hao Li (CHN) 15-6, before facing Liqiang Chen (CHN) for the gold medal. With a strong 15-9 victory, Piers emerged victorious.
Following his win, Piers said:
“I’m really proud to be returning to the top the podium after my last silver in Paris. Great to see the hard work paying off. We have a fantastic new coaching team and I’m really grateful for all their hard work to get me here.”
Full results:
Day Three:
Dimitri continued his winning streak in the Men’s Sabre B event on Saturday. Seeded eighth and earning a bye, his first knockout fight was against Cheema (GER) in the last 16. After beating him 15-2, Dimitri then went on to defeat the first seed Adrian Castro (POL) 15-12. Having secured a place on the podium, Dimitri fought Dimitrij Rout (GER) 15-8 to go through to the final, where he delivered a confident performance against Gianmarco Paolucci (ITA) to take a 15-9 victory. Dimitri had earned gold medals in all three individual competitions, becoming the first GBR para athletes to do so at a World Cup.
Dimitri commented on his achievements, saying:
“This event was one of the most memorable World Cups in my career. Winning three individual golds was a personal highlight, and a real testament to the amount of work me and my team have been putting in! I want to thank all my coaches, team, friends and family who help support me and push me to be better – this win is for all of you!”
Full results:
Day Four:
Full results:
Referees Sean Grundy and Jessica Zhang also represented GBR at the event.
This post is related to the BF 2030 Strategy goal to Deliver GBR success. You can read more about the Strategy here.
See the full results for the 2026 Budapest Para Fencing World Cup here.
You can watch the livestreams here.
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