Rock icon, 66, worth £100m competes in elite fencing competition and only loses to Olympic champion
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IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson showed a flash of the blade as he came 13th in an elite fencing tournament. The legendary metal singer, 66, proved to be a real trooper when he represented Great Britain in the veteran’s category at the prestigious Circuit Europeen tournament in Lille, France.
![[A man in fencing attire practices footwork.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/649dd29d-e344-4086-9eac-8c5f69fe0a54.jpg?strip=all&w=350)
Dickinson, who replaced the late Paul Di’Anno as Maiden’s vocalist in 1981, used to train with Team GB’s Olympic fencing squad in the 1980s. And he showed there’d been no wasted years as he put in an admirable performance against some of Europe’s top names.
![[Foil fencers competing in a match.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NINTCHDBPICT000965680972.jpg?strip=all&w=481)
Dickinson, who is worth a whopping £100million, first made light work of Denmark’s Jeiner Simon in a 10/4 victory. But he came unstuck against France’s Jolyot Pascal in the next, losing 10/1 to the 1980 Olympic gold medallist. Dickinson, who left Maiden in 1993 before rejoining six years later, ended up finishing 13th in the overall rankings as German’s Hans Martin Raeker took home the top prize.
![[Two fencers competing in a foil fencing match.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NINTCHDBPICT000965680975.jpg?strip=all&w=451)
Reflecting on the tournament, he said: “The last time I came here to Lille, it was in 2000 with Iron Maiden to do rehearsals for the world tour. “But now, I am here for a fencing competition — a veteran foil for older people, like me. “(Opponent Jolyot?) He’s not bad…”.
![[Two fencers in white uniforms exchanging fencing masks.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NINTCHDBPICT000965681013.jpg?strip=all&w=460)
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS. As well as being the singer of Maiden and his own solo band, Dickinson is also a licensed commercial pilot who brews his own beer while running a plane-fixing firm that rakes in £400,000 every month. The ace has just come off the back of another epic tour with Maiden, who have sold 130million albums worldwide, called ‘The Future Past’.
![[Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden performing on stage.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/bruce-dickinson-iron-maiden-performs-933431112_900df2.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
