Fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's épée

Men's épée
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
The Mangiarotti family, including gold medalist Edoardo (center) and silver medalist Dario (left)
VenueWestend Tennis Hall, Espoo
Dates27–28 July
Competitors76 from 29 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Edoardo Mangiarotti
 Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Dario Mangiarotti
 Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Oswald Zappelli
 Switzerland
← 1948
1956 →

The men's épée was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics programme. It was the eleventh appearance of the event. The competition was held from 27 July 1952 to 28 July 1952. 76 fencers from 29 nations competed.[1] Nations were limited to three fencers each. The event was won by Edoardo Mangiarotti of Italy, the nation's fourth consecutive victory in the men's épée (passing France for most all-time). It was also the fourth consecutive year that Italy had at least two fencers on the podium in the event, as Edoardo's brother Dario Mangiarotti took silver. Bronze went to Oswald Zappelli of Switzerland. Zappelli and Edoardo Mangiarotti had faced each other in a barrage for silver and bronze medals in 1948, which Zappelli had won; the two men were the fifth and sixth to earn multiple medals in the event.

Background

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This was the 11th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Games in 1896 (with only foil and sabre events held) but has been held at every Summer Olympics since 1900.[2]

Four of the 10 finalists from the 1948 Games returned: silver medalist Oswald Zappelli of Switzerland, bronze medalist Edoardo Mangiarotti of Italy, eighth-place finisher Émile Gretsch of Luxembourg, and tenth-place finisher Ronald Parfitt of Great Britain. Also competing was Dario Mangiarotti, Edoardo's elder brother, part of the silver medal 1948 Italian team who had to withdraw from the individual event due to injury (his replacement, Luigi Cantone, won gold in the individual competition). The Mangiarotti brothers had each won a World Championship since the London Games, Dario in 1949 and Edoardo in 1951 (making him the reigning World Champion coming into the 1952 Olympics). The 1950 World Champion, Mogens Lüchow of Denmark, also competed.

Australia, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, the Soviet Union, Venezuela, and Vietnam each made their debut in the event. Belgium and the United States each appeared for the 10th time, tied for most among nations.

Competition format

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The competition format was pool play round-robin, with bouts to three touches. Not all bouts were played in some pools if not necessary to determine advancement. Ties were broken through fence-off bouts ("barrages") in early rounds if necessary for determining advancement. Ties not necessary for advancement were either not broken (if at least one fencer had not finished all bouts in the round-robin) or broken first by touches received and then by touches scored. In the final, ties were broken by barrage if necessary for medal placement but otherwise first by touches received and then by touches scored.[3]

Fencers from the four nations that reached the team event final received byes to the quarterfinals.

  • Round 1: 8 pools of 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
  • Quarterfinals: 5 pools between 8 and 9 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.
  • Semifinals: 2 pools of 10 fencers each. The top 5 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.
  • Final: 1 pool of 10 fencers.

Schedule

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All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 27 July 1952 8:00
15:00
Round 1
Quarterfinals
Monday, 28 July 1952 8:00
15:00
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Round 1

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The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to round 2.[3] Fencers from the four teams that advanced to the final of the men's team épée event received byes through round 1:

Pool 1

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Adam Krajewski  Poland 5 1 8 Q
Antonio Haro  Mexico 5 1 9 Q
3 Erkki Kerttula  Finland 4 2 10 Q
József Sákovics  Hungary 4 2 12 Q
5 Alfred Eriksen  Norway 2 4 14
Gustavo Gutiérrez  Venezuela 2 4 16
Robert Henrion  Belgium 2 4 16
8 Eduardo López  Guatemala 0 6 18

Pool 2

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Mourão and Meraz defeated Amaral in a three-way barrage for third and fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Raimondo Carnera  Denmark 5 2 8 Q
2 Mohamed Abdel Rahman  Egypt 5 2 10 Q
3 Álvaro Mário Mourão  Portugal 4 3 16 13 Q
4 Emilio Meraz  Mexico 4 3 15 13 Q
5 Darío Amaral  Brazil 4 3 15
6 Vito Simonetti  Argentina 2 5 16
7 That Hải Tơn  Vietnam 2 5 19
8 George Carpenter  Ireland 1 6 19

Pool 3

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Béla Rerrich  Hungary 5 2 10 Q
2 Allan Jay  Great Britain 4 3 9 Q
3 César Pekelman  Brazil 4 3 13 Q
4 Wojciech Rydz  Poland 4 3 14 Q
5 Yury Deksbakh  Soviet Union 3 4 13
6 Vasile Chelaru  Romania 3 4 14
7 Giovanni Bertorelli  Venezuela 1 6 10 19
Patrick Duffy  Ireland 1 6 10 19

Pool 4

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Przeździecki defeated Brooke in a barrage for fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Mogens Lüchow  Denmark 5 1 7 Q
Jean-Baptiste Maquet  Belgium 5 2 11 Q
3 Edward Vebell  United States 4 2 12 Q
4 Andrzej Przeździecki  Poland 3 4 15 Q
5 Edward Brooke  Canada 3 4 14
6 Santiago Massini  Argentina 2 5 16
7 Zoltan Uray  Romania 1 6 18
8 Charles Stanmore  Australia 1 6 19

Pool 5

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 René Dybkær  Denmark 5 1 8 Q
Ivan Lund  Australia 5 2 14 Q
3 Johan von Koss  Norway 4 3 12 Q
4 Ghislain Delaunois  Belgium 4 3 13 Q
5 Armand Mouyal  France 3 4 15
6 Enrique Rettberg  Argentina 2 4 13
7 Abelardo Menéndez  Cuba 1 6 13 20
8 Juozas Ūdras  Soviet Union 1 6 10 20

Pool 6

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Kearney defeated Soberón and de Paula in a three-way barrage for fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Álvaro Pinto  Portugal 6 1 9 Q
2 Claude Nigon  France 6 1 11 Q
3 Ronald Parfitt  Great Britain 4 3 16 Q
4 Tom Kearney  Ireland 3 4 17 Q
5 Rubén Soberón  Guatemala 3 4 14
6 Walter de Paula  Brazil 3 4 15
7 Lev Saychuk  Soviet Union 2 5 18
8 Heikki Raitio  Finland 1 6 19

Pool 7

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Bougnol defeated Camous, Skrobisch, and Kroggel in a four-way barrage for fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Barnabás Berzsenyi  Hungary 4 3 19 14 Q
2 Rolf Wiik  Finland 4 3 18 14 Q
3 Benito Ramos  Mexico 4 3 17 Q
4 René Bougnol  France 3 4 14 Q
5 Juan Camous  Venezuela 3 4 15
6 Alfred Skrobisch  United States 3 4 15
7 Erwin Kroggel  Germany 3 4 15
8 Shinichi Maki  Japan 1 6 20

Pool 8

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Dias and Fethers defeated Makler in a three-way barrage for third and fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Nicolae Marinescu  Romania 5 2 13 Q
2 Egill Knutzen  Norway 4 3 13 Q
3 Carlos Dias  Portugal 3 4 17 Q
John Fethers  Australia 3 4 17 Q
5 Paul Makler Sr.  United States 3 4 14
6 René Paul  Great Britain 2 5 18
7 Antonio Chocano  Guatemala 1 6 13 19
8 Roland Asselin  Canada 1 6 12 19

Quarterfinals

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The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.[4]

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Dario Mangiarotti  Italy 6 1 8 Q
2 Sven Fahlman  Sweden 6 2 12 Q
3 Jean-Baptiste Maquet  Belgium 5 2 11 Q
4 René Bougnol  France 5 3 19 Q
5 Antonio Haro  Mexico 4 4 18
6 César Pekelman  Brazil 3 5 18
7 Nicolae Marinescu  Romania 3 5 20
8 Wojciech Rydz  Poland 2 5 17
9 Álvaro Pinto  Portugal 0 7 21

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Edoardo Mangiarotti  Italy 5 2 9 Q
2 Allan Jay  Great Britain 5 2 10 Q
3 Edward Vebell  United States 4 3 13 Q
4 Álvaro Mário Mourão  Portugal 4 3 15 Q
5 Emilio Meraz  Mexico 3 4 15
6 Claude Nigon  France 3 4 17
7 Béla Rerrich  Hungary 2 5 18
8 Paul Meister  Hungary 1 6 20

Quarterfinal 3

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Dybkær defeated Barth in a barrage for fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Carlo Pavesi  Italy 5 1 4 Q
Léon Buck  Luxembourg 5 1 8 Q
Mohamed Abdel Rahman  Egypt 5 3 14 Q
4 René Dybkær  Denmark 4 4 19 Q
5 Paul Barth  Switzerland 4 4 14
6 Johan von Koss  Norway 2 5 17
7 Andrzej Przeździecki  Poland 2 5 19
8 Ivan Lund  Australia 1 6 19
9 Carlos Dias  Portugal 1 6 20

Quarterfinal 4

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Forssell defeated Delaunois and Berzsenyi in a three-way barrage for fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Émile Gretsch  Luxembourg 5 3 14 Q
2 Rolf Wiik  Finland 5 3 20 16 Q
3 Mogens Lüchow  Denmark 5 3 20 16 Q
4 Carl Forssell  Sweden 4 4 16 Q
5 Ghislain Delaunois  Belgium 4 4 22 17
6 Barnabás Berzsenyi  Hungary 4 4 23 17
7 Ronald Parfitt  Great Britain 3 5 19
8 Adam Krajewski  Poland 3 5 20

Quarterfinal 5

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Sákovics and Zappelli defeated Fethers in a three-way barrage for third and fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Erkki Kerttula  Finland 6 1 7 Q
2 Per Carleson  Sweden 5 2 12 Q
3 József Sákovics  Hungary 4 4 15 Q
4 Oswald Zappelli  Switzerland 4 4 15 Q
5 John Fethers  Australia 4 4 17
6 Raimondo Carnera  Denmark 3 5 19
7 Egill Knutzen  Finland 2 5 16
8 Jean-Fernand Leischen  Luxembourg 2 5 17
9 Tom Kearney  Ireland 2 6 20

Semifinals

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The top 5 finishers in each pool advanced to the final.[4]

Semifinal 1

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Edoardo Mangiarotti  Italy 9 0 27 4 Q
2 Erkki Kerttula  Finland 6 3 12 Q
3 Oswald Zappelli  Switzerland 6 3 16 Q
4 Carl Forssell  Sweden 5 4 16 Q
5 Carlo Pavesi  Italy 5 4 20 Q
6 Sven Fahlman  Sweden 4 5 20
7 René Dybkær  Denmark 2 6 20
Émile Gretsch  Luxembourg 2 6 21
9 Álvaro Mário Mourão  Portugal 2 7 22
10 Jean-Baptiste Maquet  Belgium 1 8 25

Semifinal 2

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Mogens Lüchow  Denmark 7 2 12 Q
2 Per Carleson  Sweden 6 3 12 Q
3 Dario Mangiarotti  Italy 6 3 15 Q
4 József Sákovics  Hungary 6 3 18 Q
5 Léon Buck  Luxembourg 5 4 16 Q
6 Allan Jay  Great Britain 4 5 18
7 Mohamed Abdel Rahman  Egypt 4 5 19
8 Rolf Wiik  Finland 4 5 22
9 Edward Vebell  United States 3 6 21
10 René Bougnol  France 0 9 27

Final

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There was a three-way barrage for silver, bronze, and fourth place. D. Mangiarotti came out best in that barrage, followed by Zappelli and then Buck.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR
1st place, gold medalist(s) Edoardo Mangiarotti  Italy 7 2 12
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Dario Mangiarotti  Italy 6 3 16
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Oswald Zappelli  Switzerland 6 3 18
4 Léon Buck  Luxembourg 6 3 19
5 József Sákovics  Hungary 5 4 17
6 Carlo Pavesi  Italy 4 5 21
7 Per Carleson  Sweden 3 6 20
8 Carl Forssell  Sweden 3 6 23
9 Erkki Kerttula  Finland 2 7 23
10 Mogens Lüchow  Denmark 2 7 25

References

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  1. ^ "Fencing: 1952 Olympic Results - Men's épée". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  2. ^ "Épée, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b Official Report, p. 490.
  4. ^ a b Official Report, p. 491.