Fencing is a series of one-touch bouts with epee swords. As in 1912, the fencing portion of the modern pentathlon is a round robin-tournament, with a single touch deciding each match.

Fencing event is held in an indoor area, on special aluminium corridors (pistes), measuring 18m long and between 1.5 and 2m wide.

Each competitor has a bout against every other competitor using the epee.

Bouts last for one minute, the winner being the first fencer to score a hit. If neither scores a hit, both lose.

If athletes hit one another within 0.04 of a second (a double hit), neither hit is registered.

Point penalties are awarded for a variety of infringements including hitting the sword on anything other than the opponent to register a hit, crossing the boundary line with both feet or to avoid a hit, dangerous play and when a fencer turns his or her back on the opponent.

The 1000 point score is obtained for winning 70% of the available bouts. Each win is called a victory and each loss a defeat. Each victory above or below this 70% mark is worth a specific point value.

How much each victory above or below 70 % is worth depends on how many competitors there are. The most common are:

22-23 matches gives +/- 40 points
24-26 matches gives +/- 36 points
27-29 matches gives +/- 32 points
30-33 matches gives +/- 28 points
34-39 matches gives +/- 24 points

Example: 32 competitors (= the number of people in the final) mean that there are 31 matches for each athlete. 70 % of 31 are 22. 20 victories are therefore worth 944 points.