Wheelchair fencing around the world

IWAS Wheelchair Fencing has a growing global reach, with more countries sending athletes to international competitions every season. Whilst smaller nations try to grow the sport, they may not yet be full members of IWAS. However, their progress can be followed here.

Jamaica have joined the list of countries who have started to develop wheelchair fencing by creating their own training frame for athletes to use to practice the sport.

The frame was developed using the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Training Frame video and guidance provided by IWAS Wheelchair Fencing. Training frames can be made by anyone using basic equipment and materials, as shown here, where the frame was made out of recycled metals found lying around.

Wheelchair fencing came to Mexico in 2020, starting with the first of a series of exhibition events to recruit potential athletes in Mexico City.

The city’s Mayor Benito Juarez is championing the project alongside the local government. The USA’s Ambassador to Mexico, Christopher Landau and his son Nathaniel, an international fencer, helped to introduce six people to the sport at the event. More than 30 dignitaries and guests attended to watch.

Wheelchair fencing was the only Paralympic discipline to be presented during the official delivery of scholarships and grants to national athletes by the Sports Ministry and National Sport Institute (ICODER) at the National Stadium in 2020.

In attendance were the President of the Costa Rica Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Henry Nunez Najera, and Sport Minister Hernan Solano Venegas.

Special guests, the President of the Republic of Costa Rica Carlos Alvarado Quesada and First Lady Claudia Dobles Camargo, also attended to watch the wheelchair fencing presentation and have a go at the sport themselves.