Paris 2024: Ones to Watch in wheelchair fencing

With the countdown to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games well and truly in the final stages, our Sport Weeks provide you with the perfect guide to each of the competitions being contested in France.

To round off this week, here are the wheelchair fencers to look out for at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, which open on 28 August.

Oliver Lam-Watson (Great Britain)

The British athlete collected silver and bronze Category A medals on his Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020. He also has two European team titles in epee and foil, plus an individual epee silver from the 2022 Commonwealth Games. 

Maxime Valet (France)

A two-time Paralympian, Valet will be hoping to upgrade his Tokyo 2020 bronze at his home Games in Paris.

Adrian Castro (Poland)

Castro ended 2023 as the world number one in Sabre Individual B and is a four-time Worlds medallist. He is the current Paralympic and world silver medallist in the discipline heading into his fourth Games.

Bebe Vio (Italy)

The reigning Paralympic and world Foil Individual B champion is a global wheelchair fencing icon. Vio is a former Laureus Disability Sportsperson of the Year and featured in the Netflix documentary “Rising Phoenix”. Paris will be her third Games. 

Irma Khetsuriani (Georgia) 

The 2023 world Sabre Individual B bronze medallist is also a two-time world champion. She heads to her third Games in Paris still in search of her first Paralympic medal after finishing fourth at Tokyo 2020.

Jovane Guissone (Brazil)

The Brazilian veteran is an 11-time Americas Championships gold medallist and arrives in Paris aiming to reclaim the Paralympic Epee Individual B title he first won at London 2012.

Ellen Geddes (USA)

Geddes is the number one-ranked Category B fencer in the United States. She is a double Americas Championships gold medallist and has competed at five World Championships.

Yanke Feng (China)

The Chinese wheelchair fencing star and six-time world champion is going for his third straight Paralympic Foil Individual B title at Paris 2024, his third Games. 

Saysunee Jana (Thailand)

The veteran Thai fencer is the reigning world Epee Individual B champion and has medalled at all five Paralympic Games she has competed at. Her trophy haul includes five world and two Paralympic titles. 

Anri Sakurai (Japan)

Sakurai is a rising star in Cat B, having claimed the Asian Para Games 2022 Epee bronze. She has enjoyed a steady climb up the rankings since her debut Paralympics in Tokyo.

Discover more about wheelchair fencing and the 22 sports in the Paris 2024 Paralympic sports programme