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Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's foil

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Men's foil
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Christian d'Oriola (1948)
VenueSt Kilda Town Hall
Dates26 November
Competitors32 from 14 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Christian d'Oriola  France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Giancarlo Bergamini  Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Antonio Spallino  Italy
← 1952
1960 →

The men's foil was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twelfth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 26 November 1956. 32 fencers from 14 nations competed.[1] Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Christian d'Oriola of France, the second man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the foil and second man to win three medals in the event (he had a silver medal in 1948 along with gold in 1952). It was France's third consecutive and seventh overall victory in the event. As in 1952, the next two spots were taken by Italians, this time Giancarlo Bergamini and Antonio Spallino.

Background

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This was the 12th 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). Four of the nine finalists from 1952 returned: gold medalist (and 1948 silver medalist) Christian d'Oriola of France, silver medalist Edoardo Mangiarotti of Italy, fourth-place finisher Jacques Lataste of France, and eighth-place finisher Giancarlo Bergamini of Italy. Once again, the French and Italian teams were favored. D'Oriola had added two more world championships since the Helsinki Games and come in second at the third, behind József Gyuricza of Hungary.[2]

The United Team of Germany made its debut in the men's foil. The United States made its 11th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the inaugural 1896 competition.

Competition format

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With a smaller than usual field, the event used a three-round format. In each round, the fencers were divided into pools to play a round-robin within the pool. Bouts were to five 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. Standard foil rules were used, including that touches had to be made with the tip of the foil, the target area was limited to the torso, and priority determined the winner of double touches.[2][3]

  • Quarterfinals: There were 4 pools of 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals.
  • 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

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All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Monday, 26 November 1956 8:00
15:00
 
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Quarterfinals

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

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TF TA Notes
1 József Gyuricza  Hungary 6 0 30 13 Q
2 Yury Rudov  Soviet Union 5 1 27 15 Q
3 Antonio Spallino  Italy 5 2 30 18 Q
4 Allan Jay  Great Britain 4 3 27 15 Q
5 Harold Goldsmith  United States 3 4 22 23
6 Benito Ramos  Mexico 2 4 19 28
7 Pablo Uribe  Colombia 1 6 13 34
8 Masayuki Sano  Japan 0 6 8 30

Quarterfinal 2

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Stratmann won the barrage vs. Mangiarotti, 5–4.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TF TA Notes
1 Michael Sichel  Australia 5 2 32 19 Q
2 Iuri Osip'ovi  Soviet Union 5 2 29 21 Q
3 Albie Axelrod  United States 5 2 31 26 Q
4 Günter Stratmann  United Team of Germany 4 3 30 25 Q
5 Edoardo Mangiarotti  Italy 4 3 22 23
6 François Dehez  Belgium 3 4 21 28
7 Jacques Lataste  France 1 6 22 32
8 Gabriel Blando  Colombia 1 6 18 34

Quarterfinal 3

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Delaunois beat Paul, who beat Bergamini, who beat Delaunois, in the barrage, all at 5–4; touches against in the main pool were used to break the tie.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TF TA Notes
1 Claude Netter  France 5 1 29 17 Q
2 Brian McCowage  Australia 5 1 25 17 Q
3 Raymond Paul  Great Britain 4 3 31 22 Q
4 Giancarlo Bergamini  Italy 4 3 23 23 Q
5 Ghislain Delaunois  Belgium 4 3 26 27
6 Lajos Somodi, Sr.  Hungary 2 4 20 24
7 Santiago Massini  Argentina 1 5 19 26
8 Byron Krieger  United States 1 6 13 30

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TF TA Notes
1 Mark Midler  Soviet Union 6 1 31 19 Q
2 Christian d'Oriola  France 5 2 30 15 Q
3 René Paul  Great Britain 5 2 27 18 Q
4 André Verhalle  Belgium 5 2 30 19 Q
5 Mihály Fülöp  Hungary 4 3 29 24
6 David McKenzie  Australia 2 5 17 32
7 Roland Asselin  Canada 0 6 13 30
8 Emilio Echeverry  Colombia 0 6 10 30

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

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Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TF TA Notes
1 Claude Netter  France 5 2 31 15 Q
2 Antonio Spallino  Italy 5 1 27 16 Q
3 Raymond Paul  Great Britain 5 2 31 19 Q
4 Mark Midler  Soviet Union 5 2 27 22 Q
5 André Verhalle  Belgium 3 3 21 20
6 Yury Rudov  Soviet Union 2 4 14 28
7 Albie Axelrod  United States 1 5 17 27
8 Michael Sichel  Australia 0 7 13 35

Semifinal 2

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The three-way barrage for 3rd and 4th places resulted in Stratmann losing twice to be eliminated. Gyuricza and Jay did not face each other in the barrage, with their nominal 3rd and 4th place ranks (not relevant to advancement) determined on touches against in the main pool.

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TF TA Notes
1 Christian d'Oriola  France 6 1 32 14 Q
2 Giancarlo Bergamini  Italy 5 2 26 25 Q
3 József Gyuricza  Hungary 4 3 31 23 Q
4 Allan Jay  Great Britain 4 3 31 24 Q
5 Günter Stratmann  United Team of Germany 4 3 28 27
6 Brian McCowage  Australia 2 5 22 32
7 Iuri Osip'ovi  Soviet Union 1 5 13 28
8 René Paul  Great Britain 1 5 19 29

Final

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The two Italian fencers faced off in a barrage to determine silver and bronze medals. Bergamini won, 5–4 (he had also beaten Spallino by that score in the main pool).

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses TF TA
1st place, gold medalist(s) Christian d'Oriola  France 6 1 33 17
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Giancarlo Bergamini  Italy 5 2 33 26
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Antonio Spallino  Italy 5 2 30 21
4 Allan Jay  Great Britain 4 3 29 26
5 József Gyuricza  Hungary 3 4 23 23
6 Claude Netter  France 3 4 21 25
7 Mark Midler  Soviet Union 2 5 19 30
8 Raymond Paul  Great Britain 0 7 15 35

References

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  1. ^ "Fencing: 1956 Olympic Results - Men's foil". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Foil, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 439.