How to Qualify for Fencing Junior Olympics in 2023 in Denver

Updated on October 12, 2022 to reflect changes in the Athlete Handbook 2022/2023 released on October 4, 2022

Denver, CO- Host city for Fencing Junior Olympics 2023

To compete at the fencing Junior Olympics, the championship event for junior and cadet fencers, fencers must not only qualify through one of the available qualifying paths, and they must also meet age eligibility, and citizenship requirements.

There are 3 qualifying paths to the fencing Junior Olympics:

1) earn national points, and be ranked on the relevant National Rolling Points Standing (NRPS) list through :

national fencing competitions such as the North America Cup (NAC), July Challenge and Junior Olympics itself.
See the NAC schedule for 2022/2023 HERE
designated international cadet and junior fencing competitions (participation is limited to the top 20 US citizen fencers on the Cadet national points list, and the top 12 US citizen fencers on the Junior national points list, or with approval of US Fencing)
the Super Junior and Cadet Circuit (SJCC). No schedule for 2022/2023 has been announced by USA Fencing at the date of publication.

2) earn regional points through:

the Regional Junior and Cadet Circuit (RJCC), Regional Junior Circuit (RJC) and the Regional Cadet Circuit (RCC).
See the RJCC schedule for 2022/2023 HERE.

The regional path is the more common qualifying path for the fencing Junior Olympics. Most fencers will compete in multiple RJCCs within their region as these tournaments are not only qualifying paths to the fencing Junior Olympics and the July Challenge, they are also excellent competition practice for fencers of all experience levels. See details about RJCCs HERE.

3) finish in the top 25% of the relevant Junior Olympics Division Qualifier (DQ). See details on Division Qualifiers HERE.

qualifying for Junior Events 2023

Age Eligibility

Born 2003 to 2009. Fencers born after 2009 must be on the Cadet National Points List

classifications

A, B, C, D, E, U

citizenship

US citizen or permanent resident

points standing qualifications

Be on the Junior national rolling point standings (NRPS) at the regular fee entry deadline OR
Earn at least 110 regional points on the Junior Regional Point Standing (Total points = an athlete’s top 2 point results) OR
Be in the top 25% (round up), whichever is greater of their division’s Junior JO qualifying competition OR
For EPEE ONLY: the top 3 (on Modern Pentathlon Point Standings) USA Fencing Modern Pentathlon fencers will be eligible to compete in the JOI epee events without qualifying by any other means. USA Modern Pentathlon fencers MUST be USA Fencing members

See details for RJCC and SJCC regional qualifying paths and Division Qualifiers.

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Foundational knowledge about athlete recruitment for fencers.
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Qualifying for cadet events 2023