Fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's foil

The men's foil 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 23 July 1952 to 24 July 1952. 61 fencers from 25 nations competed.[1] All three medallists were left-handed.[2] Nations were limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Christian d'Oriola of France, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's foil and sixth overall. D'Oriola was the fifth man to win multiple medals in the event. The silver and bronze medals were won by Edoardo Mangiarotti and Manlio Di Rosa of Italy.

Men's foil
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
Christian d'Oriola (1948)
VenueWestend Tennis Hall, Espoo
Dates23–24 July
Competitors61 from 25 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Christian d'Oriola  France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Edoardo Mangiarotti  Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Manlio Di Rosa  Italy
← 1948
1956 →

Background edit

This was the 11th 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). Six of the eight finalists from 1948 returned: gold medalist Jehan Buhan and silver medalist Christian d'Oriola of France, bronze medalist Lajos Maszlay of Hungary, fourth-place finisher John Emrys Lloyd of Great Britain (in his fourth Games), sixth-place finisher Manlio Di Rosa of Italy, and seventh-place finisher Paul Valcke of Belgium. The Italian and French teams, as usual, were strong. For the French, d'Oriola was the 1947 and 1949 world champion and Buhan had been on the podium in 1950 and 1951. For the Italians, Edoardo Mangiarotti had finished third in 1949 and second in 1951 and Manlio Di Rosa had won in 1951.[3]

Colombia, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Turkey each made their debut in the men's foil. The United States made its 10th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the inaugural 1896 competition.

Competition format edit

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. The 1952 tournament introduced byes for the fencers from the top 4 nations in the team foil event, who advanced directly to the quarterfinals. 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. 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.[3][4]

  • Round 1: There were 7 pools of 6–8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
  • Quarterfinals: There were 6 pools of 6–7 fencers each. The top 3 fencers in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals.
  • Semifinals: There were 3 pools of 6 fencers each. The top 3 fencers in each semifinal advanced to the final.
  • Final: The final pool had 9 fencers.

Schedule edit

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

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 23 July 1952 8:00
15:00
Round 1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, 24 July 1952 8:00
15:00
Semifinals
Final

Results edit

Round 1 edit

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

Pool 1 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Vasile Chelaru   Romania 4 1 12 Q
Nate Lubell   United States 4 1 14 Q
Benito Ramos   Mexico 4 1 19 Q
4 Mark Midler   Soviet Union 3 1 11 Q
5 Karl Bach   Saar 2 4 28
6 Ricardo Rimini   Uruguay 0 4 20
Augusto Gutiérrez   Venezuela 0 5 25

Pool 2 edit

Paul defeated Lund in a barrage for fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Rolf Magnusson   Sweden 5 1 14 Q
2 German Bokun   Soviet Union 4 1 13 Q
Félix Galimi   Argentina 4 1 17 Q
4 Raymond Paul   Great Britain 3 3 23 Q
5 Ivan Lund   Australia 3 3 23
6 Juan Kavanagh   Venezuela 1 5 28
Roland Asselin   Canada 0 6 30

Pool 3 edit

Iesi defeated Thuillier in a barrage for fourth place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Bo Eriksson   Sweden 4 1 16 Q
2 Nicolae Marinescu   Romania 3 2 17 Q
3 Norman Casmir   Germany 3 2 21 Q
4 Sergio Iesi   Uruguay 2 3 17 Q
5 Harry Thuillier   Ireland 2 3 18
6 Jock Gibson   Australia 1 4 22

Pool 4 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 André Verhalle   Belgium 5 1 16 Q
2 Jerzy Twardokens   Poland 4 1 16 Q
René Paul   Great Britain 4 2 17 Q
4 Fulvio Galimi   Argentina 3 2 17 Q
5 Kurt Wahl   Ireland 2 4 25
6 Shinichi Maki   Japan 2 4 27
7 Rubén Soberón   Guatemala 0 6 30

Pool 5 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Luke Wendon   Great Britain 5 1 16 Q
John Fethers   Australia 5 2 20 Q
Leif Klette   Norway 5 2 21 Q
Nils Rydström   Sweden 5 2 26 Q
5 Julius Eisenecker   Germany 2 4 20
Patrick Duffy   Ireland 2 4 27
Ernst Rau   Saar 2 5 28
8 Giovanni Bertorelli   Venezuela 0 6 30

Pool 6 edit

Lindeman and Vîlcea defeated Rodríguez in a three-way barrage for third and fourth places.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Albie Axelrod   United States 5 0 25 10 Q
Gustave Ballister   Belgium 5 1 13 Q
3 Kurt Lindeman   Finland 3 3 21 Q
4 Andrei Vîlcea   Great Britain 3 3 22 Q
5 José Rodríguez   Argentina 3 3 23
6 Edward Brooke   Canada 1 4 22
7 Eduardo López   Guatemala 0 6 30

Pool 7 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Yulen Uralov   Soviet Union 4 1 12 Q
Daniel Bukantz   United States 4 1 16 Q
Paul Valcke   Belgium 4 2 18 Q
4 Jerzy Pawłowski   Poland 3 2 18 Q
5 Heikki Raitio   Finland 1 4 21
5 Günther Knödler   Saar 1 4 22
5 Abelardo Menéndez   Cuba 1 4 24

Quarterfinals edit

The top 3 finishers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.[5]

Quarterfinal 1 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Manlio Di Rosa   Italy 4 0 20 10 Q
2 Bo Eriksson   Sweden 3 1 12 Q
Salah Dessouki   Egypt 3 2 22 Q
4 Jerzy Twardokens   Poland 2 3 20
5 Raymond Paul   Great Britain 1 3 18
6 Mark Midler   Soviet Union 0 4 20

Quarterfinal 2 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Giancarlo Bergamini   Italy 4 2 15 Q
2 Mahmoud Younes   Egypt 4 2 20 Q
3 Albie Axelrod   United States 4 2 21 Q
4 Jerzy Pawłowski   Poland 3 3 22 26
5 Kurt Lindeman   Finland 3 3 21 26
6 Félix Galimi   Argentina 2 4 28
7 Sergio Iesi   Uruguay 1 5 25

Quarterfinal 3 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Edoardo Mangiarotti   Italy 6 0 30 7 Q
2 Mohamed Ali Riad   Egypt 4 2 21 Q
3 Nils Rydström   Sweden 4 2 25 Q
4 Luke Wendon   Great Britain 2 3 18
Fulvio Galimi   Argentina 2 3 21
Paul Valcke   Belgium 2 4 24
7 Nicolae Marinescu   Romania 0 6 30

Quarterfinal 4 edit

d'Oriola and Tilli defeated Uralov in a three-way barrage for second and third place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 René Paul   Great Britain 5 1 17 Q
2 Christian d'Oriola   France 4 2 16 Q
3 Endre Tilli   Hungary 4 2 23 Q
4 Yulen Uralov   Soviet Union 4 2 19
5 Gustave Ballister   Belgium 2 4 26
6 Norman Casmir   Germany 1 5 28
7 Benito Ramos   Mexico 1 5 29

Quarterfinal 5 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Jacques Lataste   France 6 0 30 10 Q
2 Endre Palócz   Hungary 4 2 14 Q
3 André Verhalle   Belgium 4 2 23 Q
4 Daniel Bukantz   United States 3 3 23
5 German Bokun   Soviet Union 2 4 25
6 Leif Klette   Norway 1 5 29
7 Andrei Vîlcea   Great Britain 1 5 29

Quarterfinal 6 edit

Lubell prevailed over Magnusson, Chelaru, and Fethers in a four-way barrage for third place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Jéhan Buhan   France 4 1 12 Q
2 Lajos Maszlay   Hungary 3 2 17 Q
3 Nate Lubell   United States 2 3 20 Q
4 Rolf Magnusson   Sweden 2 3 23
5 Vasile Chelaru   Romania 2 3 23
6 John Fethers   Australia 2 3 21

Semifinals edit

The top 3 finishers in each pool advanced to the final.[5]

Semifinal 1 edit

Tilli defeated Verhalle in a barrage for third place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Giancarlo Bergamini   Italy 4 1 14 Q
Jéhan Buhan   France 4 1 14 Q
3 Endre Tilli   Hungary 3 2 19 Q
4 André Verhalle   Belgium 3 2 18
5 Nate Lubell   United States 1 4 24
6 Mohamed Ali Riad   Egypt 0 5 25

Semifinal 2 edit

Dessouki defeated Maszlay in a barrage for third place.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Edoardo Mangiarotti   Italy 5 0 25 11 Q
2 Jacques Lataste   France 4 1 13 Q
3 Salah Dessouki   Egypt 2 3 17 Q
4 Lajos Maszlay   Hungary 2 3 19
5 Albie Axelrod   United States 1 4 22
6 Nils Rydström   Sweden 1 4 23

Semifinal 3 edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR Notes
1 Christian d'Oriola   France 4 1 13 Q
2 Manlio Di Rosa   Italy 4 1 16 Q
3 Mahmoud Younes   Egypt 3 2 18 Q
4 Endre Palócz   Hungary 2 3 20
5 Bo Eriksson   Sweden 1 4 22
6 René Paul   Great Britain 1 4 23

Final edit

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TS TR
  Christian d'Oriola   France 8 0 40 12
  Edoardo Mangiarotti   Italy 6 2 21
  Manlio Di Rosa   Italy 5 3 22
4 Jacques Lataste   France 4 4 31
5 Jéhan Buhan   France 4 4 29 33
6 Mahmoud Younes   Egypt 4 4 27 33
7 Salah Dessouki   Egypt 2 6 35
8 Giancarlo Bergamini   Italy 2 6 36
9 Endre Tilli   Hungary 1 7 39

References edit

  1. ^ "Fencing: 1952 Olympic Results - Men's foil". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  2. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 246. ISBN 0140066322.
  3. ^ a b "Foil, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b Official Report, p. 480.
  5. ^ a b Official Report, p. 481