[Lhiistyssdds]

I took tonight the Chair of the London Federation of Sport and Recreation to watch the Mens Team Sabre. His
reaction was that this was the best indoor venue that he had visited and that the presentation of fencing was
superb.

He went onto say that the fencing in the final was also spectacular and showed sport at its very best. In his
view the mens sabre event was one of the most exciting competitions that he had seen for a long time.

Incidentally I got the same feedback from several overseas officials who have been to the Excel.

On a personal note I felt that the sport had been shown in the best possible light and tonight the Koreans demonstrated that you can win not just by being athletic and skilful, but through doing the simple things very well.

I want to congratulate Hilary Philbin and her team of officials and helpers on doing a fantastic and very professional job.

[offinoNem]

Couldn't agree more. Best presentation of fencing in the UK I've ever seen.

IMHO - if we could do major open DE with this kind of 5 piste layout, (maybe not all the lights on the basis of cost), then it starts to hone the format etc for those that want to progress and it won't faze them when they arrive on the WC stage where many have this layout (prescribed by FIE I think - certainly World's & Euro's)

Needs ruthless organisation & scheduling but eminently possible.

[estheticianI]

Couldn't agree more. Best presentation of fencing in the UK I've ever seen.

Ditto - absolutely awesome. Not sure if I'll be able to handle a bit of tape and a sandwich box again.

[usadatronourl]

Have to agree 100%. I have had an amazing reaction from both fencers and non fencers I have been with at Excel. The staging is first class though non fencers feel that they need more information about what is happening. If the arena hold 8000 people then fencing will had had 160,000 spectators by Sunday !
The GO/Fence demos have also gone down well.

Congratulations to all involved - you should be very proud. One of the volunteers said to me " I'm having the best time ever" -sums it up

[Biashpainabix]

I have been lucky enough to visit a few of the venues over the past week and went to the fencing ME/WS day. I have to agree the set-up & staging of the events was FANTASTIC. Whoever designed the layout/lighting & in particular for the finals had a moment of genius.

I also got to go via BF making tickets widely available to its membership. I don’t know of any of the other NGB’s making an effort to do this.

[floadaVonfoli]

I want to congratulate Hilary Philbin and her team of officials and helpers on doing a fantastic and very professional job.

Ron, we often disagree, but this post is 100% spot on.

The staging has not merely been good, not even very good. It has been absolutely outstanding, and I join you in congratulating all those involved.

[Maserati]

Absolutely fantastic. Rio will have to go some to beat this.

[IamRobot]

Problem comes when the hundreds and thousands of enthused beginners come rushing to our clubs to learn how to fence like the Koreans only to be greeted by rotting gloves, fetid masks and trailing wires all over the badminton courts!

[AdvertisingPo]

trailing wires all over the badminton courts!

One thing that I had wondered was what the comparative costs of the wireless gear was compared to a pair of spools? And of course, the reliability. I know our club armourer would dearly like to stop repairing spools.

[lE3l6Lgn]

Fantastic evening of fencing last night and I echo the OP's sentiment of the impeccable organisation and running of it. Can't wait for the full day of MFT tomorrow.

[CaseyFronczek]

Fantastic evening of fencing last night and I echo the OP's sentiment of the impeccable organisation and running of it. Can't wait for the full day of MFT tomorrow.

I was there all day for the Men’s team foil excellent, was also there for the finals of the Individual men’s foil and sat next to a young couple who had never seen fencing before and they really enjoyed themselves.

[LOVEBoy]

I have been lucky enough to visit a few of the venues over the past week and went to the fencing ME/WS day. I have to agree the set-up & staging of the events was FANTASTIC. Whoever designed the layout/lighting & in particular for the finals had a moment of genius.

I also got to go via BF making tickets widely available to its membership. I don’t know of any of the other NGB’s making an effort to do this.

The event looked great and we would like to add our congratulations to all involved. Leon Paul did a v good job with the pistes and equipment layout. (credit where credit is due!)
We came up with the piste surround coloured lights at the last worlds and it enhances the whole effect, brings a real professionalism to it. All in all a real sales job for our sport. Well done everybody.

Paul N-M
AllstarUhlmann UK

[marketheal]

I remember when I was last active on this forum, from seven to four years ago, that much was being debated about the televising of fencing and how best to present it to the public in a way that was both accessible and exciting. Well it seems they found a way! Having been glued to the fencing events during the 2012 Olympics I am really, really pleased about the coverage; some technical inaccuracies and unfortunate individual remarks by the commentator(s) notwithstanding I thought it came across very well indeed and delivered everything that is best about the sport. Hopefully it will encourage a lot of interest in fencing from the public, and a greater interest is certainly more likely to pay dividends in both funding and ascertaining the best structure for progressing talent in fencing. A hearty well done to everybody involved!

[PoideAdelereX]

The stroke of genius of lights surrounding pistes was Ioan Pop of the FIE and he deserves full credit for the idea.

We demonstrated our first sample of the lighting to go around the pistes to the Olympic sports presentation people at the Europeans in Sheffield and then went from there.

I think that the atmosphere particurlaly was electric and it all came together fantasticaly. As Paul says it was a great PR job for Fencing and I am chuffed (but shattered).
Alex

[Clilmence]

Ever since Atlanta which was fenced on raised piste through out, I have been championing fencing on a raised piste 2 metre wide sprung podium platform of 300 mm high. I have always believed that fencing on such a podium increases the theatrical impact, the slightly sprung floor makes for faster movement over a fight. (it is fencer friendly).

The awarding of the Sheffield contract for the supply of equipment at the European Championships allowed Leon Paul to invest in a upgraded hi-tech wooded sprung 300 mm high finals piste with LED lighting beneath running the whole length of the piste. We started work on this element of the Olympic final piste set up in May 2011.

During meeting at LOCOG Ioan Pop outlined his plan of horse shoe lights placed around the piste which we agreed to look at. During the European Championships we demonstrated a 1 metre length mock up of the final piste horse shoe lights to Hillary Cawthorne and Liz Charlton (LOCOG). They we so blown away by their look and potential that money was found from various budgets to fund the hire of a complete set of these and we made them in time to trial them at the foil test event end of November.

Subsequently Ioan Pop persuaded the F.I.E. that all pistes should have the surrounding horse shoe lights and Leon Paul made them in time to demonstrate at this year's London Women's Sabre A grade. At an even later date the artistic director of the Olympic fencing Venue insisted on having extra controls so that during presentation the light could form an integral part of the fencing presentation. The control for which we produced a month before the games.

There are over 640 metres of energy efficient colour changing LED light strip with an unbelievable 38,400 individual LED's and more than 5km of cable. Special thanks have to go to Jack Jacob who designed the lighting system and has spent countless hours on the project and to his team who had to stick down and test all 38,400 LED's!

We have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback of the look of the finals hall which surpassed our wildest dreams, who said fencing was not a spectator sport? Barry.

[avaiptutt]

The visual issue was with the broadcast graphics. Because the awesome floor lights completely outshone the crap tiny symbols on the TV scoreboard, it got a little confusing when fencers were down one end of the piste and two lights were on - especially if one was off target and only signalled by a tiny white box next to other blue and white boxes!

Could it be looked at to maybe change the whole fencer name graphic the appropriate colour or something a little more striking?

Agreed actually being at the venue was superb.

[panholio]

I'd like to add my congratulations to all those invovled in making the event so spectacular - very well done. I was there for all of MF and MFT and was very, very impressed with the whole experience: getting there; security; seating; the staging of the fencing. Could have done with another coffee stall, but that's my only complaint.

An observation (Barry, given that the FIE won't read this, perhaps you could it to them...):

- Given the excellent piste lights, can we now ditch the mask lights? They are gimicky and don't add anything. Besides which, what with all the white coloured masks going around the green light is very hard to see. I realise that people will say they're useful for close-ups but if all the TV feeds have the imposed lights in the corner then they're unnecessary.

I've got a few issues with the standard of reffing/video analysis, but I'll make them elsewhere.

[JennaJJxoxoxo]

I too thought the arena was really professional, and really added to the drama of the event. LP should be really proud!

My only small wish was that the ranking number appeared on the screens against each fencer. Breaking the display into four quarters also made it harder to understand the progression of the competition.

I had no difficulty seeing what was happening on any of the pistes, and the signage all seemed very clear to me otherwise.

[mashabox]

I'll get around to writing my own thoughts at some point but this a quote that came up in the office earlier:

I'd say fencing is about the third most interesting event after BMX and beach volleyball and I've never done any of those. That's from a non-fencer.

His mate who was in the hall during ME/WS described it as "Awesome" apparently. It's like I keep telling people. Present it right and fencing is amazing for everyone to watch.

[JOR4qxYH]

Ever since Atlanta which was fenced on raised piste through out.....

Hillary Cawthorne .........

Long week ? I'm sure she's been married a good while.