The men's sabre was one of three

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 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, three fencing events were contested at the Zappeion. They were prepared and organized by the Sub-Committee for Fencing. The épée event for men was cancelled. All fencing was done to three touches. Events were h ...

programme. It was held on 9 April, the fourth day of competition. The event was won by

Ioannis Georgiadis Ioannis Georgiadis (29 March 1876 – 17 May 1960) was a Greece, Greek fencing, fencer. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the 1906 Intercalated Games, 1906 Intercalated Olympics and the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. In 1896 Ge ...

of Greece, with his countryman

Telemachos Karakalos Telemachos Karakalos ( el, Τηλέμαχος Καράκαλος, Dimitsana 1866 – 15 June 1951) was a Greek fencer. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Karakalos competed in the men's sabre event. In the five-man, round- ...

. Holger Nielsen of Denmark finished third.

Background

This was the first appearance of the event, which is the only fencing event to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The five competitors were the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, and

Georgios Iatridis Georgios Iatridis was a Greek fencer. He participated in the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Iatridis competed in the sabre event. In the five-man, round-robin tournament, he lost all four of his matches. He was defeated by Ioannis Georgiadis, A ...

; the

Dane Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (Germanic tribe) Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the nam ...

Holger Nielsen; and the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Adolf Schmal Felix Adolf Schmal (18 September 1872 – 28 August 1919) was an Austrian fencer and racing cyclist. He was born in Dortmund and died in Salzburg. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. 1896 Olympics With a fencing mask, sabr ...

. The favorite was Schmal.

Competition format

The event featured a pool-play final. Each bout was to three touches.

Sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

rules were used, except that the target area was the entire body (rather than being limited to above the waist). The competition consisted of a single pool round of five fencers, with the pool fencing a round-robin. Thus, a total of ten matches were held and each fencer faced every other fencer.Official Report, p. 77.

Schedule

The sabre was held in the morning of the fourth day of events..

Results

The competition began before the king and crown prince arrived to watch; when they arrived after two rounds of fencing, the officials restarted the competition. Before the restart, Schmal had beaten Georgiadis and Nielsen; after the restart, he lost to both men. Georgiadis was undefeated and thus won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

. Karakalos had lost only to Georgiadis, while Nielsen had lost to those two and no others. Schmal's only victory was over Iatridis, who lost all four of his matches.

References

* (Digitally available a

* (Excerpt available a

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's sabre Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics, Men's amateur sabre