Fencing at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's foil

The men's foil was a fencing event held as part of the Fencing at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which had not been contested in 1908. There were 94 competitors from 15 nations, a large increase from the 9 fencers who had competed in 1904. The event was won by Nedo Nadi of Italy, the first of his two victories in the event. His countryman Pietro Speciale took silver, while Richard Verderber of Austria took bronze.

Men's foil
at the Games of the V Olympiad
Nedo Nadi
VenueÖstermalm Athletic Grounds
DatesJuly 6–8
Competitors94 from 15 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Nedo Nadi  Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Pietro Speciale  Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Richard Verderber  Austria
← 1904
1920 →

Background

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This was the fourth 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). The organizers of the 1912 Games explicitly rejected the 1908 organizers' view that foil fencing was not suitable for competition. The only fencer from 1904 to return was silver medalist Albertson Van Zo Post of the United States. France and Italy were the strongest nations in foil fencing; a dispute over the rules led to the French team boycotting the fencing competitions.[1][2]

Bohemia, Denmark, Great Britain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, and South Africa each made their debut in the men's foil. The United States made its third appearance, having missed only the inaugural 1896 competition.

Competition format

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The event used a four-round format. In each round, the fencers were divided into pools to play a round-robin within the pool. Bouts were to five touches. 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, there were significant disputes over particulars of the rules, which led to the French boycott.[1][3]

  • Round 1: There were 16 pools, each of between 4 and 7 fencers. The top 3 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
  • Quarterfinals: There were 8 pools of 6 fencers each. The top 3 fencers in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals.
  • Semifinals: There were 4 pools of 6 fencers each. The top 2 fencers in each semifinal advanced to the final.
  • Final: The final pool had 8 fencers.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Saturday, 6 July 1912 8:00
13:00
16:00
Round 1 pools A–D
Round 1 pools E–H
Round 1 pools I–L
Sunday, 7 July 1912 8:00
13:00
16:00
Round 1 pools M–P
Quarterfinals pools A–D
Quarterfinals pools E–H
Monday, 8 July 1912 9:00
13:00
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Round 1

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Pool A

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Léon Tom   Belgium 0 Q
2 Viliam Tvrzský   Bohemia 1 Q
3 Dezső Földes   Hungary 2 Q
4 Dmitry Knyazhevich   Russia 3
Andreas Suttner   Austria 3

Pool B

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Marcel Berré   Belgium 0 Q
2 Marc Larimer   United States 2 Q
Edgar Amphlett   Great Britain 2 Q
4 Johannes Adam   Germany 3
Feliks Leparsky   Russia 3

Pool C

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Gordon Alexander   Great Britain 1 Q
Albertson van zo Post   United States 1 Q
3 Josef Pfeiffer   Bohemia 2 Q
4 Bertalan Dunay   Hungary 2
5 Pavel Guvorsky   Russia 4

Pool D

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Nedo Nadi   Italy 0 Q
2 Zoltán Schenker   Hungary 1 Q
3 Scott Breckenridge   United States 3 Q
4 Miloš Klika   Bohemia 3
5 Walter Gate   South Africa 4
Percival Davson   Great Britain 4
7 Julius Thomson   Germany 6

Pool E

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Julius Lichtenfels   Germany 1 Q
2 Arthur Fagan   Great Britain 2 Q
3 Jens Berthelsen   Denmark 3 Q
4 Graeme Hammond   United States 3
Gaston Salmon   Belgium 3
6 Gustaf Armgarth   Sweden 4
7 Vladimir Kayser   Russia 5

Pool F

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Francesco Pietrasanta   Italy 0 Q
2 Fernand de Montigny   Belgium 1 Q
3 Sotirios Notaris   Greece 2 Q
4 Lars Aas   Norway 4
Ernest Stenson-Cooke   Great Britain 4
John MacLaughlin   United States 4
7 Nikolay Goredetsky   Russia 6

Pool G

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Sherman Hall   United States 1 Q
Victor Willems   Belgium 1 Q
3 Pietro Speciale   Italy 2 Q
4 Sydney Martineau   Great Britain 3
Aleksandr Mordovin   Russia 3
6 Hans Olsen   Denmark 4
Carl Personne   Sweden 4

Pool H

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Harold Raynor   United States 0 Q
2 Béla Zulavsky   Hungary 1 Q
3 Adolf Davids   Germany 2 Q
4 Nils Grönvall   Sweden 3
5 Vladimir Samoylov   Russia 4

Pool I

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Béla Békessy   Hungary 1 Q
Edgar Seligman   Great Britain 1 Q
3 Wilhelm Löffler   Germany 2 Q
4 Josef Javůrek   Bohemia 3
5 Franz Dereani   Austria 4
6 John Gignoux   United States 5

Pool J

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Einar Levison   Denmark 0 Q
2 Pál Pajzs   Hungary 1 Q
3 Hermann Plaskuda   Germany 2 Q
4 Josef Puhm   Austria 3
William Bowman   United States 3
6 Zdeněk Vávra   Bohemia 5

Pool K

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Ivan Osiier   Denmark 0 Q
2 Axel Jöhncke   Sweden 2 Q
3 Friedrich Golling   Austria 2 Q
4 Gavriil Bertrain   Russia 2

Pool L

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Edoardo Alaimo   Italy 0 Q
2 Péter Tóth   Hungary 1 Q
3 Vilém Goppold, Jr.   Bohemia 2 Q
4 Alfred Sauer   United States 3
5 Albert Naumann   Germany 4
Vladimir Sarnavsky   Russia 4

Pool M

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Paul Anspach   Belgium 0 Q
2 Carl Hjorth   Sweden 1 Q
Robert Montgomerie   Great Britain 1 Q
4 Oluf Berntsen   Denmark 3
Lev Martyushev   Russia 3
6 Christopher von Tangen   Norway 5
Reinhold Trampler   Austria 5

Pool N

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Henri Anspach   Belgium 1 Q
Bjarne Eriksen   Norway 1 Q
Richard Verderber   Austria 1 Q
4 Adrianus de Jong   Netherlands 3
5 Anatoly Zhakovlev   Russia 4
A M Hassanein   Egypt DNS

Pool O

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 László Berti   Hungary 1 Q
Jacques Ochs   Belgium 1 Q
3 Lauritz Østrup   Denmark 2 Q
4 Heinrich Ziegler   Germany 2
5 Rudolf Cvetko   Austria 3
6 František Kříž   Bohemia 5

Pool P

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Fernando Cavallini   Italy 1 Q
Robert Hennet   Belgium 1 Q
Emil Schön   Germany 1 Q
4 George Breed   United States 3
5 Leonid Grinev   Russia 4
6 Gunnar Böös   Sweden 5

Quarterfinals

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Quarterfinal A

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Zoltán Schenker   Hungary 0 Q
2 Nedo Nadi   Italy 1 Q
3 Julius Lichtenfels   Germany 1 Q
4 Gordon Alexander   Great Britain 3
5 Marc Larimer   United States 4
Léon Tom   Belgium 4

Quarterfinal B

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Béla Zulavsky   Hungary 0 Q
2 Viliam Tvrzský   Bohemia 1 Q
3 Edgar Amphlett   Great Britain 2 Q
4 Jens Berthelsen   Denmark 3
5 Francesco Pietrasanta   Italy 4
Albertson van zo Post   United States DNS

Quarterfinal C

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Pietro Speciale   Italy 0 Q
2 Dezső Földes   Hungary 1 Q
Edgar Seligman   Great Britain 1 Q
4 Marcel Berré   Belgium 3
Scott Breckinridge   United States 3
6 Josef Pfeiffer   Bohemia 5

Quarterfinal D

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Edoardo Alaimo   Italy 0 Q
Béla Békessy   Hungary 0 Q
3 Sherman Hall   United States 1 Q
4 Adolf Davids   Germany 3
Axel Jöhncke   Sweden 3
Fernand de Montigny   Belgium 3

Quarterfinal E

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Ivan Osiier   Denmark 1 Q
Péter Tóth   Hungary 1 Q
Victor Willems   Belgium 1 Q
4 Wilhelm Löffler   Germany 3
Sotirios Notaris   Greece 3
6 Harold Rayner   United States 4

Quarterfinal F

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Henri Anspach   Belgium 1 Q
Fernando Cavallini   Italy 1 Q
3 Pál Pajzs   Hungary 2 Q
4 Carl Hjorth   Sweden 3
5 Arthur Fagan   Great Britain 4
Friedrich Golling   Austria 4

Quarterfinal G

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Robert Hennet   Belgium 1 Q
2 Robert Montgomerie   Great Britain 2 Q
3 Richard Verderber   Austria 2 Q
4 Vilém Goppold, Jr.   Bohemia 3
Lauritz Østrup   Denmark 3
6 Hermann Plaskuda   Germany 4

Quarterfinal H

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Lázsló Berty   Hungary 1 Q
2 Paul Anspach   Belgium 2 Q
3 Emil Schön   Germany 3 Q
4 Bjarne Eriksen   Norway 3
Einar Levison   Denmark 3
Jacques Ochs   Belgium 3

Semifinals

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Semifinal A

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Edoardo Alaimo   Italy 1 Q
Edgar Seligman   Great Britain 1 Q
3 Pál Pajzs   Hungary 2
Zoltán Schenker   Hungary 2
5 Robert Hennet   Belgium 3
6 Viliam Tvrzský   Bohemia 4

Semifinal B

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Nedo Nadi   Italy 0 Q
2 Béla Békessy   Hungary 1 Q
3 Paul Anspach   Belgium 2
Emil Schön   Germany 2
5 Ivan Osiier   Denmark
Edgar Amphlett   Great Britain DNF

Semifinal C

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Pietro Speciale   Italy 0 Q
2 Robert Montgomerie   Great Britain 2 Q
3 Péter Tóth   Hungary 2
4 Henri Anspach   Belgium 3
Julius Lichtenfels   Germany 3
Béla Zulavsky   Hungary 3

Semifinal D

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Rank Fencer Nation Losses Notes
1 Richard Verderber   Austria 0 Q
László Berti   Hungary 0 Q
3 Sherman Hall   United States 2
Victor Willems   Belgium 3
Fernando Cavallini   Italy DNF
Dezső Földes   Hungary DNF

Final

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The first tie-breaker was hits received in victories; Verderber and Berti each were hit 10 times in their 4 wins, while Alaimo was hit 11 times in his 4 wins.

Pos Fencer W L TF TA NN PS RV LB EA ES BB RM
    Nedo Nadi (ITA) 7 0 35 8 5–1 5–0 5–0 5–1 5–1 5–3 5–2
    Pietro Speciale (ITA) 5 2 29 24 1–5 5–3 5–2 3–5 5–2 5–4 5–3
    Richard Verderber (AUT) 4 3 27 25 0–5 3–5 4–5 5–4 5–2 5–2 5–2
4   László Berti (HUN) 4 3 23 25 0–5 2–5 5–4 5–2 1–5 5–1 5–3
5   Edoardo Alaimo (ITA) 4 3 27 26 1–5 5–3 4–5 2–5 5–3 5–1 5–4
6   Edgar Seligman (GBR) 3 4 23 29 1–5 2–5 2–5 5–1 3–5 5–4 5–4
7   Béla Békessy (HUN) 1 6 20 34 3–5 4–5 2–5 1–5 1–5 4–5 5–4
8   Robert Montgomerie (GBR) 0 7 22 35 2–5 3–5 2–5 3–5 4–5 4–5 4–5
Source: Official Report, p. 465

References

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  1. ^ a b "Foil, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  2. ^ Official Report, p. 455.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 1016.
  • Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2007.