The men's team épée 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 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 tenth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 28 November 1956. 55 fencers from 11 nations competed.

Competition format

The competition used a pool play format, with each team facing the other teams in the pool in a round robin. Each match consisted of 16 bouts, with 4 fencers on one team facing each of the 4 fencers on the other team. Bouts were to 5 touches. Total touches against were the tie-breaker if a match was tied 8 bouts to 8. However, only as much fencing was done as was necessary to determine advancement, so some matches never occurred and some matches were stopped before the full 16 bouts were fenced if the teams advancing from the pool could be determined.Official Report, p. 441.

Rosters

;Australia *

James Wolfensohn Sir James David Wolfensohn (1 December 193325 November 2020) was an Australian-American lawyer, investment banker, and economist who served as the ninth president of the World Bank Group (1995–2005). During his tenure at the World Bank, he is ...

* Ivan Lund * Keith Hackshall * Hilbert Van Dijk ;Belgium * François Dehez *

Roger Achten Roger Achten (20 December 1927 – 10 April 2004) was a Belgian fencer. He competed in the individual and team épée events at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Oly ...

* Ghislain Delaunois * Marcel Van Der Auwera * Jacques Debeur ;Colombia * Alfredo Yanguas *

Emiliano Camargo Roberto Emiliano Camargo Rodríguez (15 June 1917 – 4 November 2007) was a Colombian épée and foil fencer. He competed at the 1948 and 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and of ...

* Emilio Echeverry * Pablo Uribe ;France * Armand Mouyal * Claude Nigon * Daniel Dagallier * Yves Dreyfus * René Queyroux ;Great Britain *

René Paul Ronald René Charles Paul (20 January 1921 – 16 June 2008) was a British fencer. Fencing career He competed at four Olympic Games and won ten Commonwealth Games medals. He represented England and won two gold medals in the foil individu ...

* Raymond Paul *

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...

* Bill Hoskyns *

Allan Jay Allan Louis Neville Jay MBE (30 June 1931 – 5 March 2023) was a British five-time-Olympian foil and épée fencer, and world champion. Early life Jay was born in London, England, and was Jewish. His father died fighting in World War II in ...

;Hungary *

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. ...

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 Rerric ...

Lajos Balthazár Lajos Balthazár (30 June 1921 – 1 February 1995) was a Hungarian fencing, fencer. He won a silver medal in the team épée event at the 1956 Summer Olympics. References External links

* 1921 births 1995 deaths Hungarian male � ...

* Ambrus Nagy * József Marosi *

Barnabás Berzsenyi Barnabás Berzsenyi (12 February 1918 – 18 June 1993) was a Hungarian fencer. He won a silver medal in the team épée event at the 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officia ...

;Italy *

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 ...

* Giuseppe Delfino * Carlo Pavesi * Franco Bertinetti * Giorgio Anglesio *

Alberto Pellegrino Alberto Pellegrino (20 May 1930 – 9 March 1996) was an Italian fencer. He won two gold and two silver medals with the Italian épée and foil teams at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. References External links * * 19 ...

;Luxembourg * Émile Gretsch * Jean-Fernand Leischen * Édouard Schmit * Roger Theisen ;Soviet Union *

Arnold Chernushevich Arnold Chernushevich (; 15 January 1933 – 2 September 1991) was a Soviet Olympic fencer. He won a bronze medal in the team épée event at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII ...

Valentin Chernikov Valentin Chernikov (, 1 April 1937, Yerevan – 5 January 2002, Nizhny Novgorod) was a Soviet Olympic fencer. He won a bronze medal in the team épée event at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the ...

* Lev Saychuk * Revaz Tsirek'idze * Juozas Ūdras * Valentin Vdovichenko ;Sweden * Berndt-Otto Rehbinder *

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 (, ), officially kn ...

* Per Carleson *

Bengt Ljungquist Bengt Helge Ljungquist (20 September 1912 – 15 July 1979) was a Swedish fencer, equestrian and military officer. Early life Ljungquist was born on 20 September 1912 in Umeå, Sweden, the son of Major Helge Ljungquist and his wife Edith Palan ...

* John Sandwall ;United States * Skip Shurtz * Richard Pew *

Ralph Goldstein Ralph Myer Goldstein (October 6, 1913 – July 25, 1997) was an American Olympic épée fencer. Early and personal life Goldstein was born in Malden, Massachusetts, and was Jewish.Abram Cohen Abram "Abe" Dreyer Cohen (October 25, 1924 – February 2, 2016) was an American Olympic foil, épée, and sabre fencer.Bob Wechsler''Day by Day in Jewish Sports History''/ref>Bernard Postal, Jesse Silver, Roy Silver''Encyclopedia of Jews i ...

* Kinmont Hoitsma

Results

Round 1

The top two nations in each pool advanced to the semifinals.

Pool 1

In the first set of pairings, Italy defeated Australia 11–5 and Great Britain defeated the United States 9–7. Italy and the United States split the bouts in their match 8–8, with Italy prevailing on touches against (63–65). When Great Britain took a 9–3 lead in its match against Australia, the pool was declared finished as Great Britain and Italy were both guaranteed advancement at 2–0 compared to the other two teams at 0–2.

Pool 2

In the first set of pairings, Hungary defeated Colombia 14–2 and the Soviet Union defeated Sweden 9–7. The Soviet Union defeated Colombia 15–1. When Hungary took a 9–5 lead in its match against Sweden, the pool was declared finished as Hungary and the Soviet Union were both guaranteed advancement at 2–0 compared to the other two teams at 0–2.

Pool 3

Belgium defeated Luxembourg 11–5. The match between France and Luxembourg was stopped at 9–6 because Luxembourg was then guaranteed to finish 0–2 and be eliminated.

Semifinals

The top two nations in each pool advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Hungary defeated Belgium 11–5 in the first match. Belgium and Italy split the bouts 8–8 in the second, with Belgium taking the match win on touches against, 63–67. This put Belgium in the position of watching the final match, needing either a Hungary win or an Italy victory by blowout (14–2 or better) to advance. When the Italy–Hungary match reached 9 bouts to 3 in Italy's favor, neither outcome was possible and Belgium was mathematically eliminated—ending the pool.

Semifinal 2

Great Britain (10–6) and then France (9–7) each defeated the Soviet Union, eliminating the latter team.

Final

The first two pairings saw Hungary defeat France (9–7) and Italy beat Great Britain (10–6). Hungary and Italy each won again in the second pairings, this time Hungary over Great Britain (10–6) and Italy against France (15–1). With two 2–0 teams and two 0–2 teams, the third set of pairings in the round-robin were effectively a gold medal match and a bronze medal match. France defeated Great Britain 9–3 to take the bronze medal, while Italy prevailed over Hungary 9–3 for the gold.

References

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