The men's sabre was one of seven

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

events on the

fencing at the 1948 Summer Olympics At the 1948 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 294 fencers (255 men and 39 women) from 30 nations comp ...

programme. It was the eleventh appearance of the event. The competition was held from 12 August 1948 to 13 August 1948. 60 fencers from 24 nations competed. Nations were limited to three fencers each. The event was won by

Aladár Gerevich Aladár Gerevich (16 March 1910 – 14 May 1991) was a Hungarian fencer, regarded as "the greatest Olympic swordsman ever". He won seven gold medals in sabre at six different Olympic Games. Biography Gerevich was the first athlete to win t ...

, the fifth of nine straight Games in which a Hungarian would win the event. Gerevich became the third man to win multiple medals in the individual sabre, adding to his 1936 bronze. Vincenzo Pinton of Italy took silver and

Pál Kovács Pál Kovács (17 July 1912 – 8 July 1995) was a Hungarian athlete, who began as a hurdler, but eventually switched to fencing. By the time Kovács won his first fencing gold, in 1936, he had already been a member of the winning Hungarian te ...

of Hungary took bronze; it was the third straight Games where the sabre podium was Hungary-Italy-Hungary.

Background

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is the only fencing event to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three of the nine finalists from 1936 returned after the 12-year break: bronze medalist

of Hungary, fifth-place finisher Vincenzo Pinton of Italy, and seventh-place finisher Antoni Sobik of Poland. Hungary, dominant in the event since the 1908 Games, was expected to perform well again, led by Gerevich and 1937 world champion

. Aldo Montano of Italy had won the 1938 and 1947 world championships (1939 through 1946 had been cancelled due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

) and would have been a favorite, but he did not compete in the individual event, leaving Pinton as the greatest challenger to the Hungarians. Finland and Peru each made their debut in the men's sabre. Italy and Denmark each made their ninth appearance in the event, tied for most of any nation, each having missed two of the first three events but having appeared every Games since 1908.

Competition format

The competition format was pool play round-robin, with bouts to five touches. Not all bouts were played in some pools if not necessary to determine advancement. Ties were broken through fence-off bouts ("barrages") in early rounds if necessary for determining advancement, but by touches received in final rounds (and for non-advancement-necessary placing in earlier rounds).Official Report, p. 376. The fencers from the top four teams in the team sabre event received a bye in the first round. * Round 1: There 8 pools of between 6 and 7 fencers each. The top 3 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. * Quarterfinals: There were 4 pools of 8 or 9 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. (The format was designed for 9 fencers in each pool, but Belgium—which received byes to the quarterfinals—had no individual fencers, so the three pools which would have had Belgian fencers had 8 fencers instead of 9.) * Semifinals: There were 2 pools of 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each semifinal advanced to the final. * Final: The final pool had 8 fencers.

Schedule

All times are

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(

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)

Results

Round 1

The top 3 finishers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. Fencers from the four teams that advanced to the final of the men's team sabre event received byes through round 1, though Belgium had no individual competitors: * Hungary:

Tibor Berczelly Tibor Berczelly (3 January 1912 – 15 October 1990) was a Hungarian sabre and foil fencer. He won three gold and two bronze medals at three Olympic Games. References External links * 1912 births 1990 deaths Hungarian male foil ...

, and

* Italy:

Gastone Darè Gastone Darè (18 February 1918 – 7 June 1976) was an Italian fencer and politician. He won two silver medals in the team sabre events at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He also competed at the 1955 Mediterranean Games where he won a ...

, Vincenzo Pinton, and Carlo Turcato * United States: Dean Cetrulo, Tibor Nyilas, and George Worth

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Pool 4

Pool 5

Pool 6

Pool 7

Gramain and Zulficar defeated Zaczyk in a three-way barrage for second and third place.

Pool 8

Sarria defeated Eriksson in a barrage for third place.

Quarterfinals

The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.Official Report, p. 377.

Quarterfinal 1

Quarterfinal 2

Quarterfinal 3

Haro defeated Tredgold and Kuijpers in a three-way barrage for fourth place.

Quarterfinal 4

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fencing at the 1948 Summer Olympics - Men's sabre Sabre men Men's events at the 1948 Summer Olympics