Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson competed in a veterans’ fencing tournament this weekend.
On Sunday (January 19), the 66-year-old finished 13th out of 31 participants at the Circuit Européen 2025 competition in Fâches-Thumesnil near Lille, France. His opponents included three-time Olympic medal winner Pascal Jolyot, also 66, whom he faced last.
Talking exclusively to La Voix du Nord, Dickinson joked of his final opponent, “He’s not bad!”
He also said that it was his first time in Lille since rehearsals for an Iron Maiden world tour in 2000. “But now, I am here for a fencing competition – a veteran foil for older people, like me,” he said (translated from French by CNN).
Dickinson’s appearance at the competition was commented upon by Fâches-Thumesnil mayor Patrick Proisy. He wrote in a Facebook post, “An international star in Faches-Thumesnil: Bruce Dickinson!!!”
Video of Dickinson competing in the tournament can be seen below. The contest was eventually won by Germany’s Hans Martin Raeker.
Dickinson picked up fencing during his school days at the age of 14 and, during Iron Maiden’s downtime following the 1984-to-85 World Slavery tour, trained with the UK’s Olympic squad.
Talking to The Times last year, the singer said that he stopped training with Olympians because he felt silly “fencing 18-year-olds”.
“Now I’ve switched from foil fencing, which is very fast, to épée, which is more tactical,” he said. “I’ve found an amazing club in France, full of incredible fencers who all kick my arse. It gives me something to aim for – I want to get to the stage where only 75 percent of them kick my arse!”
Dickinson is a noted polymath, having filled his time not just with fencing and Iron Maiden over the years, but also stints piloting aircraft. He previously flew passenger jets when not on tour and piloted his band’s plane Ed Force One. However, in 2023, he announced he’d retired from flying commercial aircraft.
“Like an old dog or an old horse, gotta put it down now,” he said.
Dickinson will tour Europe with Iron Maiden in 2025, on the first leg of their Run For Your Lives world tour. The band will play material from their first nine albums to celebrate their 50th anniversary. See dates below.
Posted by lavoixdunord on
Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives 2025 European tour dates:
May 27: Budapest Aréna, Hungary *
May 28: Budapest Aréna, Hungary *
May 31: Prague Letnany Airport, Czech Republic *
Jun 01: Bratislava TIPOS Arena, Slovakia *
Jun 05: Trondheim Rocks, Norway ≠
Jun 07: Stavanger SR-Bank Arena, Norway *
Jun 09: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark *
Jun 12: Stockholm 3Arena, Sweden *
Jun 13: Stockholm 3Arena, Sweden *
Jun 16: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland *
Jun 19: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium≠
Jun 21: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK ^
Jun 22: Manchester Co-op Live, UK ^
Jun 25: Dublin Malahide Castle, Ireland *^
Jun 28: London Stadium, UK *^
Jun 30: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK ^
Jul 03: Belfort Eurockéennes, France ≠
Jul 05: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain **
Jul 06: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal **
Jul 09: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland **
Jul 11: Gelsenkirchen Veltins-Arena, Germany **
Jul 13: Padova Stadio Euganeo, Italy **
Jul 15: Bremen Bürgerweide, Germany **
Jul 17: Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria **
Jul 19: Paris Paris La Défense Arena, France **
Jul 20: Paris Paris La Défense Arena, France **
Jul 23: Arnhem GelreDome, Netherlands **
Jul 25: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, Germany **
Jul 26: Stuttgart Cannstatter Wasen, Germany **
Jul 29: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany **
Jul 30: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany **
Aug 02: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland **
* = Halestorm support
^ = The Raven Age support
** = Avatar support
≠ = Festival date
