The International Fencing Federation also distributed Olympic tickets to schools across Rio de Janeiro as part of its legacy and education programmes for the Games. An FIE delegation visited Rio before the Games to hand out hundreds of tickets to schoolchildren aged 5-15 at 27 places of education, providing access to the Olympic fencing competition for those who could not otherwise afford to go.

The schools included Escola Municipal Jose Enrique Rodó in the Rio suburb of Vila Valqueire, and Colegio Lemos de Castro, in Rio’s Madureira district. Many of the children took part in the FIE’s Fencing School program in March and April when 12 national-level coaches worked their way through dozens of schools and sports communities in Rio teaching kids the basics of the sport with equipment provided by the International Fencing Federation.