The 46th INTERNATIONAL CIUTAT DE BARCELONA World Cup Ladies Epee Fencing tournament is to be held on 10th, 11th and 12th February. This competition is ranked as A by the International Fencing Federation (FIE).
The Federació Catalana d’Esgrima and the Real Federación Española de Esgrima, in collaboration with the Ajuntament de Barcelona, the Consell Català de l’Esport, the Unió de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya and the Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya, are organizing this prestigious competition.
The first edition of the “Ciutat de Barcelona” was held on the 3rd November 1957 at the “Club de Tennis Barcino”. The tournament, then known as “Copa Ciudad de Barcelona”, was played in Men’s Épée. The trophy would become the property of those who won the competition either three times or two years in a row. Swiss fencer Umberto Menegalli won the first edition of the tournament, but the first fencer to take the trophy home was Gabriel Lassalle, from France, after prevailing in the third and fourth editions (1959 and 1961).
The tournament would go into oblivion for the following 20 years until the Catalan Fencing Federation decided to organise the 5th edition in 1981, although this time it was held in Men’s Foil and at the national level. In 1982 the tournament recovered its international character, and in 1986 it went back to its origins and became a Men’s Épée competition again. The following editions presented a growing number of participants, which along with the rising level of the competition, enhanced the prestige of the tournament. This led to the “Ciutat de Barcelona” being granted World Cup status by the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime in its 14th edition in 1989, thus making it one of the most prestigious competitions in the World Cup circuit.
Since 2005 the “Ciutat de Barcelona” is held in Ladies’ Épée. The 43rd edition, in 2019, registered a new record of participation with 280 fencers from 55 different countries.
Year after year, the best épéeists in the world gather at the “Ciutat de Barcelona”. Over the last two decades, participants of the tournament have included Olympic champions, World champions and World Cup winners. Once again, this year’s edition will welcome the world’s leading specialists in Ladies’ Épée, in what is expected to be a spectacle of plasticity, wrestling and sportsmanship.