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When the Hungarian fencing committee told Aladar Gerevich he was too old to compete at the 1960 Rome Olympics, the 50-year-old had other ideas.

He challenged all the other members of the team, and beat them, to silence the doubters.

but one who had won six gold medals, one silver and two bronze at the previous five Olympics.

Look down the list of and it's interesting to note how many of them count as combat sports.

There's boxing of course, judo and taekwondo, wrestling...and hockey. Or maybe that was just at my school.

And then there's fencing. On the surface, it doesn't have a great deal in common with the others. Think boxing and you think rough and ready East End gyms, the , blood, sweat and broken noses. Think fencing and it's all about and the and duels at dawn over the honour of a fair maiden.

The address of the British Fencing Association in London is 1, Baron's Gate. Says it all, doesn't it?

Welcome to our Olympics and Paralympics blog, which we are launching as the countdown to the begins in earnest.

Wednesday marks exactly 100 days to go to the 8 August opening ceremony (though oddly enough the football tournament starts two days earlier).

Writers from across 大象传媒 Sport, Radio 5Live, 大象传媒 London and 大象传媒 News will bring you the inside track on all , as well as the Games themselves - which are set to be truly fascinating, if controversial, given China's hosting of them.

One of the uncertainties at the moment from a British perspective is whether the Games will turn out to be a triumph - or a failure. My view is...

Keep reading this blog for all the latest about the Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing and also for the inside track on the long build-up to London 2012.

News and reports will be on the but our experts will bring you behind the scenes access to the world's biggest sporting event right here.

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