More than 300 fencers have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and fencing's global federation to reconsider allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions, calling it a "catastrophic error."
A letter sent to IOC President Thomas Bach and Emmanuel Katsiadakis, the interim president of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), comes just days before the window for 2024 Paris Olympic qualifying opens.
It was signed by 318 fencers — 286 still competing, the remainder retired — from across Europe, plus the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Japan.
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