Athletes will start 2026 with a keener focus on the next Paralympic cycle towards LA 2028, complete with some revolutionary changes to competition.  

Qualification kicks-off in October with regional Championships in Asia, the Americas and Europe. A new format for the team events, as well as mixed teams, will also be officially introduced this year after trials in previous seasons. 

In Pisa the hosts will once again field a strong group of fencers hoping to continue their success from 2026 into the new season. 

All competition from the Pisa 2026 Para Fencing World Cup can be watched live at World Para Fencing’s website with commentary from former athlete and Paralympic gold medallist Cyril More. Pictures will be available at World Abilitysport’s online archive.

 Andreea Mogos is the new women’s foil category B world champion, taking the reigns from compatriot Beatrice Vio who has assumed a role within the national federation. Mogos stormed to gold in Iksan, South Korea, claiming her first world title after impressing at World Cups. 

Italy were also on-top in the men’s sabre at the World Championships so expect a strong – and possibly dramatic – showing here too. New rules for 2026 will see the team events fenced to 30 points from the traditional 45, a change designed to make them even more dynamic and watchable. 

Rounding off the World Championships medallists for Italy competing at home are Edoardo Giordan and Emanuele Lambertini. 

Giordan claimed bronze in the men’s sabre category A to follow on from his podium finish at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Lambertini also finished third in Iksan in the men’s foil category A. 

Alongside Italian hopes are fencers from more than 15 other countries who will make the journey to Pisa. 

Included in that number are the likes of Thailand’s Saysunee Jana, whose career achievements are without parallel and keep stacking-up. Jana swept the board in all three weapons in the women’s category B at Paris 2024 and left Iksan with gold in the epee. But Ukraine’s Olena Fedota-Isaieva is one of Jana’s main rivals, securing gold in the sabre. 

In the men’s, Neutral Para Athlete Artur Yusupov is another returning world champion from the men’s epee category A. 

A look at the world rankings also delivers some food for thought for the competition.  

South Korea’s Hyo Kyeong Kwon is the top seed in the women’s epee category A. Türkiye’s Hakkan Akkaya secured his No.1 spot with bronze in the men’s epee category A in Iksan whilst Latvia’s Olegs Garkuls-Gurevics occupies the same position in the category B. 

In the foil Hong Kong, China’s, Yu Chui Yee will make the journey to Italy for her seventh World Cup appearance in the city of the leaning tower as the world No.1. 

And whilst Italy’s Michele Massa left Iksan without a podium finish, he is still the top ranked fencer in the men’s foil category B. 

Poland’s Kinga Drozdz, Georgia’s Irma Khetsuriani and Poland’s Adrian Castro are leading athletes in the women’s sabre category A and B and men’s sabre category B, respectively. 

The Pisa 2026 Para Fencing World Cup gets underway on Thursday (19 February) with the women’s epee and men’s foil category A and category B. The Para fencing community will begin the day with a 30-second silence to honour World Abilitysport Chief Executive Officer, Charmaine Hooper, who passed away suddenly earlier in the month.

Friday will welcome athletes to the piste for the women’s foil and men’s sabre before individual competition concludes with the women’s sabre and men’s epee. 

Sunday will feature the women’s epee and foil and men’s sabre teams with the new 30-point competition format. 

Pisa 2026 is one of four World Cups to take place in 2026. Following hosts are Budapest, Hungary; Bradenton City, USA and Pattaya City, Thailand.  

Late in the year the European Championships take place in Cardiff, Great Britain, from 6-11 October; Asian Championships in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from 18-24 October and Americas Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 29 October – 1 November.