Wheelchair Fencing included on the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Programme

It is with great pleasure that IWAS and the wheelchair fencing sport executive committee (SEC) is able to announce wheelchair fencing will be included in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Programme.

Following their meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE on Saturday (21 January), the IPC Governing Board approved the further six sports for inclusion in the Games, adding to the 16 sports that were ratified in October 2014.

Following the submission of sport applications in the summer of 2014, the IPC undertook a detailed assessment of each sport. All applicants were assessed against the same criteria for worldwide participation in terms of countries and continents, where the sport is regularly practiced, quadrennial competition programme, athlete classification, anti-doping programme, rules and regulations, and initiatives undertaken to make their sport more attractive.

IWAS was among eight sports that were given the opportunity to rework the application and invited to present to the IPC Governing Board in October, 2014 in Berlin Germany.

Being one of the eight sports included in the first Paralympic Games in Rome, Italy in 1960, IWAS felt it vital that every effort was made to ensure the sport should remain on the programme. IWAS would like to especially extend its gratitude to Udo Ziegler, Hilary Philbin and Man Chung for their support and input to ensure the final submission was more comprehensive. IWAS President, Paul DePace and Vice Chairman of the SEC, Pal Szekeres presented the final submission to the IPC Governing Board in Berlin.

IWAS CEO, Charmaine Hooper thanked the wheelchair fencing SEC for their collaboration and added that IWAS would have to continue to grow the sport to extend its world-wide reach.