MANAMA, Bahrain, Nov. 22, 2025 – The top-ranked junior and senior fencers in the world were honoured at the 2025 FIE Congress in Manama, Bahrain, awarded FIE medals for their achievements. Most were in attendance, appearing in person to receive their awards from members of the FIE Executive Committee Bureau before the entire Congress.
Here are highlights of the winners, and their stunning accomplishments:
Top 2025 Junior Fencers
Women’s Epee: Ukraine’s Anna Maksymenko earned two junior gold medals in 2025, at the Udine, successfully defending her reigning title at the European Junior Zonal Championships in Antalya, Türkiye and taking her third Junior World Cup win in three years running at the Udine, Italy Junior World Cup. Topping off her stellar season, the epeeist also won gold at the Budapest Grand Prix, placing her as a serious contender in the senior category, as well.
The top-ranked 2025 junior women’s epee team award went to Ukraine, overtaking the title from last year’s winner, Italy, with a very talented young team including Anna Maksymenko.
Men’s Epee: With two bronze medals in the past three years at the African Junior Zonal Championships, this was the year for Egypt’s Mahmoud Elsayed, as he scored two significant gold medals in 2025 to earn him the top spot, including finally winning the African Junior Zonals in Luanda, Angola and, in a thrilling finish, becoming junior world champion at the Wuxi Junior and Cadet World Championships. At age 20, he’s another fencer to watch as he enters the senior ranks, especially with his bronze medal this year at the African Senior Zonal Championships in Lagos.
The top-ranked 2025 junior men’s epee team award went to Egypt, with a veritable tour-de-force that overtook last year’s strong winners, Italy.
Women’s Foil: Italy’s Matilde Molinari had a truly excellent and exciting competitive year, taking a silver medal at the Wuxi Junior and Cadet World Championships as well as winning golds at the European Zonal Championships in Antalya and the Tbilisi, Georgia Junior World Cup. This was her second year in a row to claim a Junior World Cup gold after her 2024 win in Leipzig, Germany.
Following in the footsteps of their senior athletes and frequent finals-piste competitors, the top-ranked 2025 junior women’s foil team award went to the USA and Italy, in a tied result.
Men’s Foil: Egypt’s Abdelrahman Tolba has scored eight podium finishes – including six golds – in two years. Continuing his rise to glory, he finishes 2025 with five gold medals, including four in junior and one in the senior ranks, winning the Senior African Zonal Championships in Lagos, Nigeria. In juniors, he won the Junior and Cadet World Championships in Wuxi; the Fujairah, UAE and Zagreb, Croatia Junior World Cups; and the Luanda, Angola Junior Zonal Championships. He also won two bronze medals at Junior World Cups in Vancouver and Turin.
The top-ranked 2025 junior men’s foil team award went to Italy – continuing their dominance after winning last year, and continuing the undeniable powerhouse that is Italian foil fencing.
Women’s Sabre: Uzbekistan’s Gulistan Perdibaeva has made the medals podium five times since 2022, and this year was certainly no exception as she earned Junior World Cup gold medals in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Tbilisi, Georgia. She also scored top-eight results at the Wuxi Junior and Cadet World Championships and the Kuwait City, Kuwait Junior Asian Zonal Championships. At age 20, she will undoubtedly be one to watch in the senior ranks.
With the support of Perdibaeva’s success, the top-ranked 2025 junior women’s sabre team award went to Uzbekistan, which continues to make its mark as an up-and-coming nation to watch, especially in sabre.
Men’s Sabre: As the son of Romania’s world and Olympic sabre champion, Vlad Covaliu is carrying forward his family name by winning three significant medals in 2025, including gold at the Boston Junior World Cup as well as silver at the Wuxi Junior and Cadet World Championships and the Antalya Junior Zonal Championships. He also took fifth place at the Senior Zonal Championships in Genoa, Italy, and is entering the senior category with great enthusiasm. Covaliu also won this title last year.
The top-ranked 2025 junior men’s sabre team award went to the USA, retaining its title from 2024, and bolstered by the success and support of its senior role models such as world champion Eli Dershwitz and Olympic medallists Daryl Homer and Keeth Smart.
Top 2025 Senior Fencers
Women’s Epee: Ranked first in the world at age 32, the seemingly unstoppable Republic of Korea world champion Sera Song added to her huge collection of medals by dueling her way to bronze at the Tbilisi Senior World Championships and the Budapest Grand Prix, combined with gold at the Asian Senior Zonal Championships in Bali, Indonesia and silver at the Wuxi World Cup. Recognized as the first Republic of Korea to win gold in both individual and team events at World Championships, Song added to the list of first-ever accolades this year by winning the Zonals.
The top-ranked senior women’s epee team award went to Italy, retaining their award reign from 2024 and displaying with tremendous vigor their nation’s ability to wield multiple weapons with their eyes always focused on winning.
Men’s Epee: Hungary’s world champion and Olympic silver medallist Gergely Siklosi is a truly captivating force in men’s epee, with 17 senior world and continental medals to his name, six of them gold. He finishes 2025 with a gold medal from the Marrakech, Morocco World Cup and silver medals at the Tbilisi World Championships and Doha Grand Prix, followed by a bronze medal at the Genoa Senior European Zonal Championships. Targeting gold in LA28, Siklosi will surely be one to watch in 2026.
The top-ranked senior men’s epee team award went to Olympic champion Japan, after finally securing their dream of winning the World Championships.
Women’s Foil: The USA’s legendary Lee Kiefer — double Olympic champion (Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024,) and the most successful U.S. fencer in history — once again made the record books in 2025 by becoming the first senior U.S. women’s foil world champion at the Tbilisi World Championships. She also secured her 12th Pan American Zonal Championship title in Rio de Janeiro, a vitually unrivaled continental dominance. Kiefer enriched her medal collection further with silver at the Shanghai Grand Prix and bronze in Lima.
The top-ranked senior women’s team foil award went to powerhouse force Italy, with more podium finishes than any other country in the history of women’s foil.
Men’s Foil: Hong Kong, China’s Chun Yin Ryan Choi is continuing the blaze a trail for Hong Kong, China’s amazing contributions to world fencing podium finishes in just recent history. He took three important gold medals in 2025, becoming world champion this year in Tbilisi – a first-ever for his country and only the second in Asia – and also dueling his way to glorious victories at the Shanghai Grand Prix and Bali Senior Zonal Championships.
The top-ranked senior men’s team foil award went to Italy. Having won at the Tbilisi World Championships, and that being their absolutely incredible 25th time winning the title, their award is unquestionably well-deserved.
Women’s Sabre: With 22 world and zonal medals, Japan’s two-time world champion Emura Misaki boosted her top-notch sabreuse status in 2025 and brought a continuing stream of honour to her nation and family of fencers with gold medals at the Tunis Grand Prix along with two World Cup wins in Heraklion (Greece) and Lima. Topping it off was capturing the title at the Bali Senior Asian Zonal Championships. She also took a bronze medal at the Cairo World Cup.
The top-ranked senior women’s team sabre award went to France, for the second-year running and driven by a continual, year-to-year exceptional performance by these highly motivated women’s athletes.
Men’s Sabre: France’s Jean-Philippe Patrice, ranked first in the world and always battling for higher status with his brother, Sebastien Patrice, took the gold medal at the Padua (Italy) World Cup, along with silver medals at the Seoul Grand Prix and Tbilisi World Championships, where this year he faced home-town favorite Sandro Bazadze in a thrilling final suitable for the record books. Seoul represented his second Grand Prix medal, having won the Orleans Grand Prix in 2024.
The top-ranked senior men’s team sabre award went to Hungary, a nation with bragging rights to the longest and most distinguished history of all nations in men’s team sabre – claiming nearly 50 team medals at the World Championships, including more than 20 golds.
Grand Prix of the Nations
Grand Prize awards are given at the annual FIE Congress to the nations winning the overall top rankings for each competitive age group for the year, including Cadet, Junior, Senior and Veteran. This year, the awards went to the USA for Cadets, Juniors and Veterans and to France for Seniors.
