Favourites
- Ka Long Cheung (HKG) has won more Olympic gold medals (Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024) in the men’s foil individual event than world championships medals: one bronze medal (2022). Cheung can become the first fencer to win a world title for Hong Kong, China in any fencing event. Until the start of the Tbilisi 2025 world championships, Hong Kong, China had won four bronze medals in fencing at the world championships. Cheung won gold in this event at the Asian Games in 2023 and at the Olympic Games in 2024. If he wins the world title in Tbilisi, he will become the first fencer to hold these three titles at the same time.
- Chun Yin Ryan Choi (HKG) won this event at the Asian championships in Bali in June 2025. There has been one Asian world champion in the men’s foil individual: Yuki Ota (JPN) in 2015.
- Tommaso Marini (ITA) is the defending world champion (2023) in this event. Marini could join Oreste Puliti (ITA, 1927 & 1929) as only Italian fencer to win this event at successive world championships.
- Guillaume Bianchi (ITA) won the individual foil at the European championships in Genoa in June. The last man to win the world and European title in this event in the same year was Italy’s Andrea Baldini in 2009.
- Nick Itkin (USA) claimed bronze in this event in 2022 and silver in 2023. He could become the first man to win bronze-silver-gold in that order in this event at successive world championships. He also won this event at the Pan American Games in 2023.
- Alexander Massialas (USA) defeated Itkin in the final of the men’s individual foil at this year’s Pan American championships in Rio de Janeiro in June. Massialas claimed four podium finishes in this season’s World Cup and Grand Prix events, including winning in Tunis and Vancouver. He also claimed silver in this event at the world championships in 2015.
- Gerek Meinhardt (USA) took bronze in this event at the world championships in 2010 and 2015. He could win a medal in this event 15 years after his first medal. Until 2025, the most years between a first and last medal in the men’s individual foil was 12 years, set by Jenö Kamuti (HUN, 1961-1973): silver in 1961 and 1967, bronze in 1973.
- Alexander Choupenitch (CZE) could win the first world championships medal in any fencing event for Czechia (* this does not include Czechoslovakia).
- Mohamed Hamza (EGY) or Abdelrahman Tolba (EGY) could win the first medal for Egypt in this event. Tolba won the men’s foil event at the (senior) African championships in Lagos in June. Earlier this year he had won the men’s foil at the junior world championships in Wuxi in April.
Various
- Italy (G22-S21-B23) has won a record 66 medals in this event at the world championships. France (G15-S12-B19) is next on 46 medals.
- In this century, three left-handed fencers won the world title in the men’s individual foil event: Andrea Baldini (ITA, 2009), Andrea Cassara (ITA, 2011) and Dmitry Zherebchenko (RUS, 2017).
- Hungary has not finished on the podium of the men’s individual foil at the world championships since 1973, when Jenö Kamuti (HUN) took a bronze medal. This is currently the longest medal-drought for Hungary in any fencing event at the world championships.
- Chong Kio Cheong (MAC, born 3 February 2011) is the second youngest fencer at the Tbilisi world championships, after Wardah Almulla (KUW, 6 June 2011) in the women’s individual sabre individual.