RRI Sports Club – Fencing

Romanian fencers are making their mark at the World Championships currently taking place in Hong Kong

Florin Orban, 29.07.2026, 11:45

Throughout the history of fencing, there have been periods when Romanian fencers were world leaders in certain disciplines. In the 1960s, it was foil, with Olga Szabó-Orbán as world champion and Ionel Drâmbă as world and Olympic champion. This was followed by the 1970s, when the foil tradition was continued by Ecaterina Stahl, a world champion, but the sabre fencers also made their mark, consistently featuring on the world and Olympic podiums. The 1990s brought another great generation of foil fencers, with Laura Badea, Olympic champion at Atlanta in 1996, shining particularly bright.  In 2000, in Sydney, it was the turn of a sabre fencer to win Olympic gold: Mihai Covaliu, the current president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee.

The new millennium saw the rise of the épée. Ana-Maria Brânză was Olympic silver medallist in Beijing in 2008, and again in Tokyo in 2021, but in 2016, in Rio, she won Olympic gold as part of Romania’s women’s épée team. Next came foil fencer Maria Boldor and sabre fencer Iulian Teodosiu, who won bronze in 2022 at the World Championships in Cairo. The baton was passed on, mainly in men’s sabre. In 2025, at the World Championships in Tbilisi, the Romanian team, comprising Radu Nițu, Vlad Covaliu, George Dragomir and Iulian Teodosiu, won the bronze medal. This was followed this year by the European Championships in France, held in June, where the men’s sabre team – with Răzvan Ursachi replacing Teodosiu – won the silver medal, while George Dragomir took third place on the podium in the individual sabre event.

Romanian fencers have once again captured the attention of sports fans at the 2026 World Championships, which are currently taking place in Hong Kong. And once again, the highest expectations were pinned on the sabre fencers, and they have lived up to them. Radu Nițu won a bronze medal in the individual event, achieving the greatest success of his career. He and his teammates have a strong chance of also reaching the podium in the team event on Thursday. Romania’s squad, however, includes a European medallist and a World Championship medallist, so expectations are high. (MI)