The men's
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 ...
competition in
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 ...
at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
was held on 7 August at the
Carioca Arena 3
Carioca Arena 3 (Portuguese: ''Arena Carioca 3''), now named the Isabel Salgado Olympic Educational Gymnasium, is a sports training school and indoor stadium in Barra da Tijuca in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The venue hosted taekwondo ...
.
The medals were presented by
Paul Tergat
Paul Kibii Tergat (born 17 June 1969) is a Kenyan former professional long-distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished l ...
,
IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...
member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
, Kenya and
Donald Anthony Jr., Executive Board Member of
FIE. There were 35 competitors from 19 nations.
[ The event was won by Daniele Garozzo of Italy, the nation's ninth victory in the men's foil (matching France for most all-time) and first since 1996. The silver medalist was American ]Alexander Massialas
Alexander Chen Massialas (; pinyin: ''Chén Hǎixiáng''; ; born April 20, 1994) is an American right-handed foil fencer. He is a two-time NCAA champion, 11-time team Pan American champion, two-time individual Pan American champion, and 2019 t ...
, earning the United States' first medal in the event since 1960. Timur Safin of Russia took bronze.
Background
This was the 27th 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). Five of the eight quarterfinalists from 2012 returned: gold medalist Lei Sheng of China, silver medalist Alaaeldin Abouelkassem of Egypt, fifth-place finisher Andrea Cassarà
Andrea Cassarà (born 3 January 1984) is an Italian left-handed foil fencer, two-time individual European champion, 2011 individual world champion, and three-time Olympics medalist. In February 2025, he was convicted of intended illicit interfe ...
of Italy, seventh-place finisher Ma Jianfei of China, and eighth-place finisher Aleksey Cheremisinov
Aleksey Borisovich Cheremisinov (; born 9 July 1985) is a Russian right-handed foil fencer, two-time team European champion, two-time individual European champion, 2014 individual world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2016 team Olympic champi ...
of Russia. 2008 silver medalist, 2012 top-16 finisher, and reigning world champion Yuki Ota
is a Japanese foil fencer, gold medallist at the 2006 Asian Games, silver medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympics, team silver medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and individual gold medallist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships. He is a ...
of Japan also returned. Cheremisinov had been world champion in 2014, while American Miles Chamley-Watson
Miles Chamley-Watson (born December 3, 1989) is a British-American right-handed foil fencer. He is a 13-time team Pan American Games, Pan American champion, 2019 team world champion, 2013 individual world champion, three-time Olympic Games, Oly ...
had taken the title in 2013. The top-ranked fencer going into the Games was another American, Alexander Massialas
Alexander Chen Massialas (; pinyin: ''Chén Hǎixiáng''; ; born April 20, 1994) is an American right-handed foil fencer. He is a two-time NCAA champion, 11-time team Pan American champion, two-time individual Pan American champion, and 2019 t ...
.
The Czech Republic made its debut in the men's foil. France and the United States each made their 25th appearance, tied for most of any nation; France had missed only the 1904 (with fencers not traveling to St. Louis) and the 1912 (boycotted due to a dispute over rules) foil competitions, while the United States had missed the inaugural 1896 competition and boycotted the 1980 Games altogether.
Qualification
Nations were limited to three fencers each from 1928 to 2004. However, the 2008 Games introduced a rotation of men's team fencing events with one weapon left off each Games; the individual event without a corresponding team event had the number of fencers per nation reduced to two. Men's foil was the first event this applied to, so each nation could enter a maximum of two fencers in the event in 2008. The team foil was back in 2016 (sabre the missing weapon for men), so the limit was three for 2016.
There were 35 dedicated quota spots for men's foil. The first 24 spots went to the 3 members of each of the 8 qualified teams in the team foil event. Next, 7 more men were selected from the world rankings based on continents: 2 from Europe, 2 from the Americas, 2 from Asia/Oceania, and 1 from Africa. Finally, 4 spots were allocated by continental qualifying events: 1 from Europe, 1 from the Americas, 1 from Asia/Oceania, and 1 from Africa.
Additionally, there were 8 host/invitational spots that could be spread throughout the various fencing events. Brazil had already qualified a men's foil team (with the corresponding three places in individual foil), so used no spots in the individual men's foil.
Competition format
The 1996 tournament had vastly simplified the competition format into a single-elimination bracket, with a bronze medal match. The 2016 tournament continued to use that format. Fencing was done to 15 touches or to the completion of three three-minute rounds if neither fencer reached 15 touches by then. At the end of time, the higher-scoring fencer was the winner; a tie resulted in an additional one-minute sudden-death time period. This sudden-death period was further modified by the selection of a draw-winner beforehand; if neither fencer scored a touch during the minute, the predetermined draw-winner won the bout. 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 regarding target area, striking, and priority were used.[
]
Schedule
All times are Brasília Time
Time in Brazil is calculated using standard time, and the country (including its offshore islands) is divided into four standard time zones: Fernando de Noronha time (UTC−02:00), Brasília time (UTC−03:00), Amazon time (UTC−04:00), and Acr ...
( UTC-03:00)
Results
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Finals
Final classification
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fencing at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Men's foil
Men's foil
Men's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics