The 2012 Olympic fencing competition featured ten events and was marked by a widely criticized timekeeping error that affected a women's épée semi-final result.
Key Facts
- Dates
- 28 July – 5 August 2012
- Venue
- ExCeL Exhibition Centre, London
- Total events contested
- 10 events
- Individual events
- 6 events
- Team events
- 4 events
- Time remaining at error
- 0.02 seconds
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The International Fencing Federation had lobbied to expand the Olympic fencing program, but the International Olympic Committee retained the existing format of ten events — six individual and four team — for the 2012 Games in London.
Fencing at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre from 28 July to 5 August. Ten events were contested. The most discussed moment was a timekeeping error in the women's individual épée semi-final, where a volunteer's mistake left only a fraction of a second on the clock that could not be reset below one whole second.
The extra second allowed German fencer Britta Heidemann to score a winning attack against South Korea's Shin A-lam, advancing to the final. The incident drew widespread criticism and highlighted vulnerabilities in timekeeping procedures at major fencing competitions.
Result
at ExCeL Exhibition Centre, London