Historic hat-trick as Dimitri Coutya completes clean sweep of individual titles at Cardiff 2026 Para Fencing European Championships
University of Bath-based Dimitri Coutya made history at Cardiff 2026 by becoming the first Brit to win gold in all three weapons at a Para Fencing European Championships.
The Paralympic Champion followed up his fourth successive continental epee triumph by securing both the Category B sabre and foil crowns during an outstanding start to the LA 2028 Paralympic Games qualification window.
Gemma Collis also won women’s Category A epee bronze as the British Fencing squad ended the championships on home soil with seven medals in total.
Coutya’s sabre success was particularly eventful, with the Brit – having progressed through the pool stages – beating Poland’s Adam Jablonski 15-10 before defeating Italy’s Amelio Castro 15-8 in a rematch of the epee final.
That set up a semi-final against Gianmarco Paolucci but the Italian was disqualified shortly before the contest when it was found the padding on his chair contravened regulations. The final was also delayed by a scoring system malfunction but Coutya kept his composure to beat Adrian Castro 15-11 and secure the first European sabre title of his career.
Coutya’s third successive European foil triumph followed the next day, the Brit defeating Italy’s Michele Messa 15-9 in the final.
“I really didn’t know what to expect coming here,” said Coutya after completing his golden hat-trick. “I’m really happy to have come away with these results, but again, it’s a testament to the work that the team around me, and my friends and family, have put in to help get me into the shape I’m in today. A big thank you to all of them.”
Four-time Paralympian Collis began her epee competition with a 15-5 victory over team-mate Emily Holder and then overcame Ukraine’s Mariia Ivanchyk 15-10 to reach the semi-finals, where Spain’s Judith Rodriguez Menendez – after a close-fought battle – scored the decisive point during a priority minute to edge a 7-6 win.
That was a third bronze of the week for Collis, who had been part of the British mixed foil and epee teams that placed third. Justine Moore – one of Collis’s team-mates in those successes – also won Category B foil bronze.
Eight of the 14 athletes representing GB in Wales are part of the British Fencing World Class Programme and either train full-time or receive additional coaching and sport science support at the Para Fencing National Training Centre, which is based in the Team Bath Sports Training Village – a UK Sport-accredited Elite Training Centre. Visit teambath.com/fencing to find out more.
