Berlin (dpa) - Germany will not be represented in Olympic fencing team events for the first time at the August Games in Rio de Janeiro, after the men‘s epee team failed to qualify.



A sixth-place finish Sunday at a World Cup event in Vancouver was not good enough to make it. The men‘s foil and women‘s epee and sabre teams had also not achieved the necessary results in recent weeks.



"We are very disappointed. We had it in our own hands to the task was too much in the end," German fencing federation sports director Sven Ressel said.



Germany has won 18 medals at Olympic team events in the past: three gold, six silver and nine bronze.



The nation will only be represented in individual fencing events at the August 5-21 Games in Rio.



