The men's foil was one of seven

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

events on the

Fencing at the 1928 Summer Olympics At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, seven fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through t ...

programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event. The competition was held from 31 July 1928 to 1 August 1928. 54 fencers from 22 nations competed. For the third straight Games, the limit of fencers per nation was reduced (from 12 to 8 in 1920, from 8 to 4 in 1924, and from 4 to 3 in 1928). The event was won by

Lucien Gaudin Lucien Alphonse Paul Gaudin (27 September 1886 – 23 September 1934) was a French fencer. He competed in foil and in épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the spor ...

of France, the nation's second consecutive and fourth overall victory in the men's foil.

Erwin Casmir Erwin Casmir (2 December 1895 – 19 April 1982) was a German fencer. He won a silver medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics and two bronze medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), ...

earned silver to give Germany its first medal in the event.

Giulio Gaudini Giulio Gaudini (28 September 1904 – 6 January 1948) was an Italian foil and sabre fencer. He competed at the 1924, 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won three gold, four silver, and two bronze medals. He was the flag bearer for Italy at the 19 ...

of Italy took bronze.

Background

This was the seventh 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). Three of the 1924 finalists returned: gold medalist (and 1920 bronze medalist)

Roger Ducret Roger Ducret (2 April 1888 – 10 January 1962) was a French fencer who competed at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics. At the 1924 Summer Olympics he entered five events out of six and earned a gold or silver medal in each of them, winning indi ...

and two-time silver medalist

Philippe Cattiau Philippe Cattiau (28 July 1892 – 18 February 1962) was a French épée and foil fencer who won a total of eight Olympic medals between 1920 and 1936. He was born in Saint-Malo in Brittany. A stadium in the Paris suburb of Vil ...

of France, along with sixth-place finisher

Ivan Joseph Martin Osiier Dr. Ivan Joseph Martin Osiier (December 16, 1888 – December 23, 1965), was a Danish Olympic medalist, and world champion, fencer who fenced foil, épée, and saber. He was given the Olympic Diploma of Merit during his career. He is also one ...

of Denmark. Osiier was competing in the Games for the fifth time of his eventual seven. The favorite was 1927 world champion

Oreste Puliti Oreste Puliti (18 February 1891 – 5 February 1958) was an Italian fencer. He won four gold medals and a silver at three Olympic Games. His teammates were accused of attempting to inflate his score by losing to him in the final of the Men ...

of Italy, whose Olympic ban resulting from his withdrawal in the 1924 sabre competition had been lifted. Chile, Finland, Romania, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the men's foil. The United States made its sixth appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the inaugural 1896 competition.

Competition format

The event used a three-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 Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

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. * Quarterfinals: There were 6 pools of 6–8 fencers each. The top 3 fencers in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. * Semifinals: There were 3 pools of 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each semifinal advanced to the final. * Final: The final pool had 12 fencers.

Schedule

Results

Source: Official results; De Wael

Round 1

Each pool was a round-robin. Bouts were to five touches. The top three fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Pool D

Pool E

Pool F

Pool G

Pool H

Semifinals

Each pool was a round-robin. Bouts were to five touches. The top four fencers in each pool advanced to the final.

Semifinal A

Semifinal B

Semifinal C

Final

The final was a round-robin. Bouts were to five touches. The top three finishers all ended with nine wins, and the tie was broken with a barrage.

Barrage

The barrage was a round-robin among the three top finalists. Each of three had lost twice in the final round-robin, once to another of the three finalists and once to a fencer who did not place as well. Gaudin, who had lost to Casmir in the final, beat him in the barrage and notched his second head-to-head victory against Gaudini to win gold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fencing at the 1928 Summer Olympics - Men's foil Foil men Men's events at the 1928 Summer Olympics