Fencer Matthias Behr takes in relatives of the opponent he stabbed (2022)

This tragic accident in 1982 changed the sport of fencing forever. As a fencer, all of our equipment today has been changed by the accident. This is why I have been so familiar with the accident long before. Today I was overwhelmed with emotion when I read this learning that a story like this happened, 40 years later.

I had just started fencing in college in the Fall of 1982, and the gear we had was definitely not safe in hindsight. Our coach was scrupulous about safety, but how can you cope with a blade break from carbon steel? Kevlar etc wasn't a thing back then as I recall. The first time we learned flèche was exhilarating, but now seems like we were pushing our luck. And we were a D2 school without a lot of high quality fencers.

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Everyone is talking about the &quot;blade breaking&quot; as a dangerous thing. Can someone please explain?

I&#x27;ve fenced on and off for 20 years, and the worst injury I&#x27;ve seen is bruises, thank goodness. My only concern these days is the blade breaking and sliding under the throat guard.

So odd, I never expected for olympic fencing to be (or have been) actually dangerous. It always looks like the blade can bend at insane angles and that it could never harm anyone. A lot of unfortunate circumstances must have come together to allow this to happen.

I feel like this headline is intentionally misleading.