Iron Maiden Frontman Bruce Dickinson Places 13th in French Fencing Tournament After Falling to Olympic Gold Medalist

With a flash of the blade, Iron Maiden rocker Bruce Dickinson made his mark on a recent fencing tournament in France.

The British singer, 66, placed 13th in the Circuit Européen 2025 tournament in Fâches-Thumesnil, which took place from Jan. 18-19. He competed alongside 30 other participants in the prestigious veterans’ competition.

Dickinson, a longtime fencer who in the 1980s trained with the British Olympic squad, won his first match against Danish fencer Simon Jeiner. He ultimately lost to Pascal Jolyot, a French fencer with three Olympic medals, including one gold, under his belt.

“He’s not bad,” Dickinson joked of Jolyot to La Voix du Nord.

Video shared to the Instagram fan page Eddie the Head fan Club shows Dickinson practicing and competing in bright red shoes.

Related: Bruce Dickinson Was Willing to Find Iron Maiden a 'Great Replacement' If He Couldn't Sing After Cancer Diagnosis

The “Run to the Hills” singer told The Times in February 2024 that he fences about four times a week, and has switched from the fast-paced foil fencing to épée, as it’s “more tactical.”

“I’ve found an amazing club in France, full of incredible fencers who all kick my arse,” he told the outlet. “It gives me something to aim for — I want to get to the stage where only 75 percent of them kick my arse!”

Dickinson, whose wife Leana Dolci is French, has several other hobbies aside from music. The star is also a pilot who once worked for Astraeus Airlines, and has his own line of beer with Robinsons Brewery called Trooper.

In 2014, Dickinson was diagnosed with throat cancer, but got the all-clear the next year after nearly three dozen radiation sessions and weeks of chemotherapy.

Related: Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson Goes on Rant About Ticket Prices — and Thinks the Front Row Should Be Affordable

“I really appreciate every day, but that means that every day I have to do something, even if it’s consciously doing nothing — at least do something consciously,” he told Rolling Stone in March. “When I did my series of one-man shows around the States almost two years ago, I made up a T-shirt that said, ‘Life is better than all the other options.’ And if I had a mantra to live by, that would be it.”

The rocker added he was “lucky that I can still sing.”

Iron Maiden, which Dickinson rejoined in 1999 following a brief hiatus, announced the Run For Your Lives world tour in September.

The stadium, festival and arena tour dates will kick off in May in Budapest and will run through August.

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