Unique Olympic and Paralympic trailblazer backs British fencing success in Cardiff

Pál Szekeres is the only athlete to have won medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, bagging fencing bronze at Seoul 1988 before going onto win six medals on the Paralympic stage between 1992 and 2008

Dimitri Coutya and Piers Gilliver have been backed for European Championship glory – by an Olympic and Paralympic trailblazer.

Pál Szekeres is the only athlete to have won medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, bagging fencing bronze at Seoul 1988 before going onto win six medals on the Paralympic stage between 1992 and 2008.

So the Hungarian history maker knows a thing or two about the ingredients needed for success at the highest level, now in Cardiff this week as the chairman of World Para Fencing.

Coutya, 28, was a double Paralympic champion in Paris while Gilliver, 32, claimed glory in Tokyo three years earlier.

The duo stand tall as arguably Britain’s two greatest ever para fencers and got their European campaigns off to a solid start in the Welsh capital, with Coutya bagging bronzes in the mixed epee and foil team events and Gilliver joining forces with him in the former.

Both are now hoping to add to their continental selection of golds in their individual events and Szekeres, who transitioned to para fencing after a bus accident in 1991, has every faith they will do so.

“The host country always has a little bit more pressure than the others,” he said.

“It was great to see, after London 2012, how fast the next generation of British Fencing grew.

“There are two guys who are real stars – Piers and Dimitri – and I’m sure we’ll be hearing ‘God Save The King’ this week!

“The question is how many times? I hope there will be many countries who get medals, as it shows how strong this sport is.

“We’re very proud to be here – it’s a great event, the people are lovely and it’s a great location.

“Everyone will be a bit nervous, there are some new faces and new situations – but it’s a good family and we are connected, not only in the sport but with our disability.

“It’s a friendly sport and community – we are opponents but not enemies.

“It’s good to see old friends from Cardiff.”

The European Championships are being held in the UK for the first time since Sheffield in 2011, hosted at the Sport Wales National Centre in the shadow of Sophia Gardens.

World Abilitysport awarded the hosting of the continental showpiece to British Fencing, in partnership with UK Sport, supported by funding from The National Lottery and the Welsh Government.

The event comes after the successful hosting of a World Cup event in the city two years ago with Disability Sport Wales, the lead organisation for sport and physical activity for disabled people in Wales, leading the team of over almost 100 volunteers.

This marks the first qualification event for the Paralympics in Los Angeles and Szekeres, who won three golds across the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Games, hailed the start of the upcoming cycle.

“It’s a high standard – this is the first step on the road to LA and a big event,” he added.

“In previous years, we’ve only had 100 athletes, but this year we have 120 from all over Europe.

“It’s a longer qualifying spell than the able-bodied, starting today and ending at the end of May 2028.

“Everybody was surprised how fast it was after Paris, but we have restarted that long road.”

The Para Fencing European Championships, supported by funding from UK Sport through The National Lottery, and Welsh Government, is being held in Cardiff on the 6th-11th October 2026, seeing athletes from across Europe compete in the first qualification event for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games. For more information and tickets visit here