Rio de Janeiro

Russia’s proposed rule change to the International Fencing Federation sounded fairly harmless at first. That was until it cleaved the sport apart, terrified swordspeople about the ancient sport’s future and inspired analogies to World War II alliances.

It doesn’t take an in-depth knowledge of fencing to understand why people are so freaked. On every strip, there are two en-garde lines. For centuries, fencers have started each point with their feet behind those lines. But then the Russian federation had a better idea. From now on, saber fencers will start every point with their feet on those lines.

It was a change of inches. What could go wrong? As it turns out, a lot.

In the last year, there has been an unremitting uproar about this seemingly obscure piece of legislation, which becomes subject to official testing with the winning touch of the final Olympic saber event on Saturday.