By Bruce Dickinson, frontman of legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden, participated in a prestigious fencing tournament in northern France on Sunday.
The singer, who has been fencing since he was a child, finished 13th out of 31 competitors in the veterans category at the Circuit Européen 2025 tournament in Fâches-Thumesnil, losing to former Olympic gold medalist Pascal Jolyot.
The rock star is a talented swordsman and used to train with the British Olympic fencing squad in the 1980s.
“The last time that I came here (to Lille), it was in 2000 with Iron Maiden to do rehearsals for the world tour,” Dickinson told La Voix du Nord. “But now, I am here for a fencing competition – a veteran foil for older people, like me.”
“He is not bad,” the Iron Maiden frontman added in reference to his final opponent, Jolyot, who has three Olympic medals to his name, including gold in the team foil event and silver in the individual men’s foil event at Moscow 1980.
The tournament was won by German fencer Hans Martin Raeker.
Patrick Proisy, mayor of Fâches Thumesnil, said that Dickinson’s appearance was a mark of how serious the town’s fencing club is. “An international star in Faches-Thumesnil: Bruce Dickinson!!!” he wrote on Facebook.
Aside from his musical career, Dickinson also brews beer and was previously a commercial pilot with about 7,500 hours of flying under his belt.
The 66-year-old is not the only musician to have enjoyed sporting success. Chelcee Grimes, who has written songs for the likes of Dua Lipa and Kylie Minogue, also played soccer for Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.
Julio Iglesias, one of the best-selling Latin artists of all time, played in goal for Real Madrid’s reserve team, and singer Jack Johnson became the youngest invitee to make the finals of the Pipeline Masters surfing tournament in Hawaii, aged 17, according to the BBC.
