The men's foil was a fencing event held as part of the fencing programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the third time the event was held at the Olympics. The competition was held on September 7, 1904. Nine fencers from three nations competed. The event was won by Ramón Fonst of Cuba, the silver medal went to Albertson Van Zo Post and the bronze to Charles Tatham, both of United States.[1]
| Men's foil at the Games of the III Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ramón Fonst | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Francis Gymnasium, Washington University in St. Louis | ||||||||||||
| Date | September 7 | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 9 from 3 nations | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Background edit
This was the third appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1908 (when there was a foil display only rather than a medal event). None of the fencers from 1900 returned.[2]
Two of the three competing nations were making their debut in the men's foil: Cuba and Germany. Only the United States had previously competed, in 1900; the United States' two appearances matched France (1896 and 1900).
Competition format edit
The event used a two-round format (semifinals and a final). The semifinal consisted of two pools, one of five fencers and one of four fencers, with each pool playing a round-robin. The top two in each semifinal advanced to the final; these four played another round-robin. Standard foil rules were used, including that touches had to be made with the tip of the foil, the target area was limited to the torso, and priority determined the winner of double touches.
However, the number of touches made was not determinative of the winner of a bout. Instead, each bout was evaluated by judges. Each judge assigned up to 100 points to each fencer, with the fencer having the higher average score winning the bout.[2]
Schedule edit
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, 7 September 1904 | Semifinals Final |
Results edit
Semifinals edit
Each fencer in a group faced each other fencer in that group once. The top two fencers in each semifinal group moved on to the final.
Semifinal A edit
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ramón Fonst |  Cuba |
4 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Albertson Van Zo Post |  United States |
3 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Fitzhugh Townsend | United States |
2 | 2 | |
| 4 | Theodore Carstens | United States |
1 | 3 | |
| 5 | William Grebe | United States |
0 | 4 |
Semifinal B edit
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gustav Casmir |  Germany |
3 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Charles Tatham | United States |
2 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Wilfred Holroyd | United States[3] |
1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Arthur Fox | United States |
0 | 3 |
Final edit
Fonst continued to defeat all comers, including Post a second time, to win the gold. Post's only two losses in the event came against Fonst, as he took silver. Tatham, who had lost to Casmir in the semifinal pool, defeated him the second time around to take third place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Ramón Fonst | Cuba |
3 | 0 |
 |
Albertson Van Zo Post | United States |
2 | 1 |
 |
Charles Tatham | United States |
1 | 2 |
| 4 | Gustav Casmir | Germany |
0 | 3 |
Final classification edit
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| |
Ramón Fonst | Cuba |
Final |
| |
Albertson Van Zo Post | United States |
Final |
| |
Charles Tatham | United States |
Final |
| 4 | Gustav Casmir | Germany |
Final |
| 5 | Fitzhugh Townsend | United States |
3rd in semifinal pool |
| Wilfred Holroyd | United States[3] |
3rd in semifinal pool | |
| 7 | Theodore Carstens | United States |
4th in semifinal pool |
| Arthur Fox | United States |
4th in semifinal pool | |
| 9 | William Grebe | United States |
5th in semifinal pool |
Notes edit
- ^ "St. Louis 1904 Fencing Foil Individual Men Results". Olympics.com. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ a b "Foil, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
- ^ a b The IOC results database shows Wilfred Holroyd as American; however, he was British.
Sources edit
- Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2006.