Fencing at the 1988 Summer Olympics

After the boycott years of 1980 and 1984 the fencing tournament was nearly back to full strength in 1988. The one major nation who did not show at the Olympic Fencing Gymnasium in Seoul was Cuba, who were amongst the strongest nations in men’s épée. West Germany, aided by their all-conquering women’s team topped the medal table under either definition with three golds and seven total medals. Anja Fichtel was the only double gold medallist of the Games whilst Jean-François Lamour of France became the first man to defend an individual title since 1960 when he retained his sabre gold medal. The Seoul Olympics saw the final appearance of Sweden’s Kerstin Palm. Palm’s career concluded her seventh Olympic Games which was a record for a female Olympian at the time.