Key Points
- The 2026 Para Fencing European Championships will take place from October 6-11 in Cardiff at the Sport Wales National Centre.
- This is the first European championship for which the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics qualify.
- This is the first ever Para Fencing European Championships to be held in Cardiff and the first ever since the 2011 tournament in Sheffield.
- Hosting rights were granted by World Abilitysport to British Fencing, in cooperation with UK Sport and with The National Lottery and Welsh Government support.
- British Fencing organized the Cardiff Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in 2024.
- Great Britain won bronze medals in mixed epee and mixed foil team events on the opening day of the championship.
- In the opening gold medal match, Ukraine beat Poland in the mixed epee team.
- Dimitri Coutya, Piers Gilliver, Gemma Collis and Justine Moore won the bronze in the mixed epee event; Coutya, Collis, Moore and Oliver Lam-Watson won the bronze in the mixed foil event.
- Gemma Collis described herself as “absolutely buzzing” to compete in front of her home crowd following health concerns.
- Georgina Usher, British Fencing chief executive, described the tournament as a great inspiration to athletes and officials of the future.
Cardiff (Wales Times) October 07, 2026 – has been backed as the ideal location to begin the qualification journey towards the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games, as the Welsh capital hosts the 2026 Para Fencing European Championships at the Sport Wales National Centre from 6 to 11 October.
As reported by the Runcorn and Widnes World, uk/local/cardiff/">Cardiff has been described as the perfect host for this week’s championships and for getting the LA2028 qualification process underway. The event brings together Para fencers from across Europe for the first European-based qualification fixture ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.
The tournament is also a significant milestone for the United Kingdom. It is the first time the Para Fencing European Championships have been staged in Cardiff, while the last time the event was held in Britain was in Sheffield in 2011.
Why Cardiff Was Chosen
Cardiff’s selection follows the success of the Cardiff Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in 2024. World Abilitysport awarded British Fencing the right to host the 2026 European Championships in partnership with UK Sport, with funding support from The National Lottery and the Welsh Government.
As reported by British Fencing, its chief executive, Georgina Usher, said: “We are looking forward to once again welcoming athletes from the UK and across the world as they set out on their journey towards LA 2028 Paralympic qualifications. We look forward to building on the success of the Cardiff 2024 Wheelchair World Cup. This is another fantastic opportunity for us to inspire the next generation of athletes, officials and volunteers from Wales and the UK.”
World Abilitysport chief executive Charmaine Hooper said Cardiff’s return to the World Para Fencing calendar demonstrated how organisers could develop experience by hosting competitions at different levels. She added that the European Championships formed part of an exciting 2026 calendar and would kick-start qualification for LA 2028.
What Happened on Opening Day?
Great Britain began the championships with two bronze medals in the team events at the Sport Wales National Centre. As reported by the Mirror, Dimitri Coutya, Piers Gilliver, Gemma Collis and Justine Moore defeated Italy in the mixed epee bronze-medal bout after losing their semi-final to Poland.
Later the same day, Coutya, Collis, Moore and Oliver Lam-Watson beat France to claim bronze in the mixed foil team event, following a semi-final loss to Hungary. Italy won gold in the mixed foil event ahead of Hungary, while Ukraine beat Poland for the opening gold of the championships in the mixed epee final.
Coutya, a double Paris Paralympic champion and eight-time European champion, said: “It was a really good team effort from us today. I’m really proud of how everyone fenced.” He added that the British team had worked hard over the summer and that returning home with bronze medals was “really great”.
Piers Gilliver fenced the decisive epee bout against Italy and helped Britain secure the medal, earning his tenth overall European medal. Oliver Lam-Watson, who replaced Gilliver in the foil line-up, said
“We’ve got a long way to climb but we’ve got the experience there to do so. We made the best of a difficult situation – next time hopefully we’ll be back stronger.”
Why the Event Matters for LA2028
The Cardiff championships are the opening European qualification event for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games. Athletes from across Europe are competing across the six-day programme, with results contributing to the qualification pathway for the Games.
For British athletes, competing at home provides an early opportunity to gain experience in a major international qualification setting. As reported by UK Sport, its head of events, Esther Britten, said The National Lottery’s support had been instrumental in bringing the event back to the UK and giving British athletes the opportunity to compete before home fans as they build towards the LA Paralympic Games.
Sport Wales director for sport intelligence and service development, Graham Williams, said Wales was pleased to welcome another high-level para sports event. He said the 2024 Wheelchair Fencing World Cup had been successful and that the European Championships would support the further growth of disability sport in Wales.
What Gemma Collis Said
Welsh Paralympian Gemma Collis is among the British athletes competing in Cardiff. The 33-year-old, who is second in the World Para-fencing rankings in epee, told BBC Sport Wales that she was “absolutely buzzing” to compete on home soil.
Collis said her preparation had been affected by significant health issues in recent months, making it uncertain until roughly two weeks before the championships whether she would be able to take part. She described the build-up as the most difficult she had experienced before an event.
“It was only probably in the last two weeks that I’ve been confident that I would be at this European Championships,”
Collis told BBC Sport Wales reporter Izemrasen Alahyan.
Collis said representing Wales within Team GB made the event particularly meaningful.
“I’m really looking forward to it being in Wales. I think that makes it extra special as kind of the Welsh member of the team,”
she said.
She also highlighted outreach work with local schools in the lead-up to the championships, saying children had written news articles about her. “So it’s really, really special to feel like you have that extra bit of support,” she added.
What the Host City Gains
The championships give Cardiff another opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to host international para sport. British Fencing noted that it had previously hosted the Cardiff Wheelchair Fencing World Cup in 2024, creating a pathway from a World Cup event to the more prestigious European Championships.
World Abilitysport’s Charmaine Hooper said the progression showed the opportunities available to organisers to build capacity and experience by hosting different levels of competition. She said she was confident that Cardiff and British Fencing would stage an excellent event.
The event is being held at the Sport Wales National Centre in Pontcanna, with sessions scheduled from 9am to 8pm across the championship dates.
Background of the Development
Para fencing, also known as wheelchair fencing, is a Paralympic sport in which athletes compete using foil, epee and sabre. British Fencing recently assumed responsibility for the GBR Wheelchair Fencing World Class Programme and is now the national governing body for Para Fencing in the UK.
The Cardiff 2026 championships form part of a wider international calendar that begins qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games. World Abilitysport awarded the hosting rights to British Fencing following the city’s successful staging of the 2024 Wheelchair Fencing World Cup.
The last UK-hosted European Championships took place in Sheffield in 2011, 15 years before the Cardiff event.
Prediction: Impact on Athletes and Welsh Sport
The Cardiff championships are likely to give British and Welsh Para fencers an important early benchmark in their LA2028 qualification campaigns. Competing in front of a home audience may help athletes gain familiarity with the pressures of a major qualification event before later stages of the pathway.
For Welsh sport, the event could strengthen local engagement with disability sport through school outreach, volunteering and spectator attendance. Gemma Collis has said that the 2024 Cardiff World Cup created a strong atmosphere and that volunteers helped athletes from around the world feel welcome and able to focus on performance.
For spectators and the wider disability-sport community, the championships provide an opportunity to see elite European Para fencers competing in Cardiff. The event may also encourage more people to try Para sport, particularly if access and awareness continue to develop beyond major championship periods.
