What counts as a valid hit in pentathlon fencing?

• Point only: "The épée is a thrusting weapon. Attacks are made with the point only."
• Whole body: the target is the whole body with clothing and equipment.
• The apparatus decides: the referee cannot declare a hit that the apparatus has not registered.
• Start and stop: nothing begun before "Allez" or after "Halte" counts.
• Arriving on the call: a hit that arrives before or at the moment of "Halte" is valid.
• Off the side: a fencer who leaves the strip with both feet cannot score. Their opponent still can.
• Losing ground: after stepping off the side a fencer is moved back one metre.
• Off the back: crossing the rear limit with both feet counts as being hit.
• The other hand: using the non-sword hand or arm to attack or defend is forbidden and the hit is annulled.
• Not the opponent: hits on the floor or on any other object are disregarded.
• A fall: actions ended by a fall are not valid.
• Faulty kit: the referee annuls the last hit if a test straight afterwards shows the equipment could have caused a mistake.

The glossary has fencing, the one-hit bout, the ranking round, the direct elimination, the tie in direct elimination entry and the hit confirmation entry.

Épée is the simplest of the three fencing weapons to judge: any touch anywhere counts and a machine registers it. That suits pentathletes, who are not specialist fencers. It also suits a bout decided by a single hit, where an argument over one decision would decide everything.