HONG KONG, July 21. /TASS/. The World Fencing Championships, the first since 2019 at which the Russian national team will compete under its flag and in national uniforms, will take place in Hong Kong from July 22 to 30.

More than 1,000 athletes from over 200 countries will compete in foil, epee and saber events at the AsiaWorld-Expo exhibition center.

On June 2, the International Fencing Federation lifted all restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes.

"The most important thing is that we will officially be there as a team, with our flag and anthem. For the first time in many, many years, we will put on the Russian national team uniform and enter the arena as full-fledged members of our team," two-time Olympic champion and Russian Fencing Federation President Ilgar Mamedov told TASS ahead of the tournament.

Russian fencers won four medals at the European Championships in June: gold in the women's team saber event, silver for Yana Egorian and two individual bronze medals in foil. Russia finished third in the overall standings.