The men's

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains ...

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 1956 Summer Olympics At the 1956 Summer Olympics, seven fencing events were contested, six for men and one for women. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Participating nations A total of 165 fencers (142 men and 23 women) from 23 nations comp ...

programme. It was the twelfth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 30 November 1956. 41 fencers from 18 nations competed. Nations were limited to three fencers each. The event was won by Carlo Pavesi of Italy, the nation's fifth consecutive victory in the men's épée (most among all nations, above France with three). In all five of those Games, Italy earned at least two medals in the event; this was the second sweep during that period for Italy (and fifth overall, with Cuba achieving that once and France twice).

Giuseppe Delfino Giuseppe Delfino (22 November 1921 – 10 August 1999) was an Italian fencer and Olympic champion in épée competition. Biography He won a gold medal in the épée individual event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

was the silver medalist while

Edoardo Mangiarotti Edoardo Mangiarotti (; 7 April 1919 – 25 May 2012) was an Italian fencer. He won a total of 39 Olympic titles and World championships, more than any other fencer in the history of the sport. His Olympic medals include one individual go ...

took bronze. It was Mangiarotti's third medal in the event, along with gold in 1952 and another bronze in 1948; he was the first man to win three medals in the individual épée.

Background

This was the 12th 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. Five of the 10 finalists from the 1952 Games returned: gold medalist (and 1948 bronze medalist)

of Italy, fifth-place finisher

József Sákovics József Sákovics (26 July 1927 – 2 January 2009) was a Hungarian épée and foil fencer. He won a silver and two bronze medals at two Olympic Games. He was the husband of Lídia Sákovicsné Dömölky, who also fenced at the Olympics. ...

of Hungary, sixth-place finisher Carlo Pavesi of Italy, seventh-place finisher

Per Carleson Senior Colonel Per Hjalmar Ludvig Carleson (11 July 1917 – 8 June 2004) was a Swedish officer and épée fencer. Carleson was one of the founders of the Swedish Coastal Rangers. Early life Carleson was born on 11 July 1917 in Stockholm ...

of Sweden, and eighth-place finisher

Carl Forssell Carl Forssell (25 October 1917 – 28 November 2005) was a Swedish fencer. Competing in the team épée he won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics, a silver at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympiala ...

of Sweden. The reigning (1955) World Champion, Giorgio Anglesio of Italy, was on the Italian team for the team event but did not compete in the individual event, with Mangiarotti (a two-time World Champion as well as two-time Olympic medalist), Pavesi, and

making up the nation's heavily favored three-man squad for the individual competition. Indonesia made its debut in the event. East and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany for the first time. Belgium and the United States each appeared for the 11th time, tied for most among nations.

Competition format

The competition used a pool play format, with each fencer facing the other fencers in the pool in a round robin. For the first time, bouts were to 5 touches. Barrages were used to break ties necessary for advancement (touches against were the first tie-breaker used to give ranks when the rank did not matter). However, only as much fencing was done as was necessary to determine advancement, so some bouts never occurred if the fencers advancing from the pool could be determined.Official Report, p. 444. The smaller field resulted in fewer pools and smaller pools (the final was only 8 fencers for the first time since 1912, after decades at 10 or 12 fencers). Fencers from the four nations that reached the team event final received byes to the quarterfinals. * Round 1: 4 pools of 7 or 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. * Quarterfinals: 4 pools of 7 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals. * Semifinals: 2 pools of 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the final. * Final: 1 pool of 8 fencers.

Schedule

All times are

Australian Eastern Standard Time Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30), and Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00). Time is regulated by the individual state ...

(

UTC+10 UTC+10:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +10:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Port Moresby, Dededo, Saipan'' North Asia *Russia – Vl ...

)

Results

Round 1

The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. Fencers from the four teams that advanced to the final of the men's team épée event received byes through round 1: * France: Daniel Dagallier, Armand Mouyal, and René Queyroux * Great Britain:

Bill Hoskyns Henry William Furse "Bill" Hoskyns MBE (19 March 1931 – 4 August 2013) was a British fencer who appeared at six Olympic Games., Fencing career Hoskyns, born in London won two silver medals in 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. No British fence ...

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...

, and

Allan Jay Allan Louis Neville Jay MBE (born 30 June 1931) is a British former five-time-Olympian foil and épée fencer, and world champion. Early life Jay was born in London, England, and is Jewish. His father died fighting in World War II in 1943. He a ...

* Hungary: Lajos Balthazár,

Béla Rerrich Béla Rerrich (26 November 1917 – 24 June 2005) was a Hungarian fencer. He won a silver medal in the team épée event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. During the Melbourne Olympics the Hungarian revolution happened, and Rerri ...

, and

* Italy:

, and Carlo Pavesi

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Pool 4

Quarterfinals

The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

Quarterfinal 2

Quarterfinal 3

Quarterfinal 4

Semifinals

The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

The three-way tie among the Italian fencers for the medals at 5–2 required a barrage to settle. The first barrage resulted in another three-way tie at 1–1 (Pavesi defeated Delfino; Delfino defeated Mangiarotti; Mangiarotti defeated Pavesi). In the second barrage, the results were the same except Pavesi defeated Mangiarotti to win the gold medal. Delfino took silver and Mangiarotti bronze. In all, Mangiarotti had faced Delfino 4 times (Mangiarotti winning in the semifinal pool, Delfino winning three times: the final pool and both barrages), Delfino had faced Pavesi 3 times (Pavesi winning all 3 in the final pool and both barrages), and Pavesi had faced Mangiarotti 3 times (Mangiarotti winning in the final pool and first barrage, Pavesi winning in the second barrage).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics - Men's epee Epee men Men's events at the 1956 Summer Olympics