Fencing at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's épée

Men's épée
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Gold medalist Franco Riccardi (1928)
VenueImperial Sports Field, Berlin
Dates9–11 August
Competitors68 from 26 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Franco Riccardi
 Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Saverio Ragno
 Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici
 Italy
← 1932
1948 →
Fencing at the
1936 Summer Olympics
Épéemen
Team épéemen
Foilmenwomen
Team foilmen
Sabremen
Team sabremen

The men's épée was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1936 Summer Olympics programme. It was the ninth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 9 August 1936 to 11 August 1936. 68 fencers from 26 nations competed. Nations were limited to three fencers.[1][2] The event was won by Franco Riccardi of Italy, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's épée (matching Cuba and Belgium for second-most all-time among nations). Riccardi's teammates Saverio Ragno and Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici took silver and bronze, respectively, to give Italy a medal sweep—Italy's first and the fourth overall in the event (Cuba in 1904, France in 1908 and 1920). Cornaggia-Medici, who had won gold in 1932, became the fourth man to win multiple medals in the individual épée. For the first time, France competed in the event but did not win any medals (snapping a four-Games podium streak).

Background

This was the ninth appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Games in 1896 (with only foil and sabre events held) but has been held at every Summer Olympics since 1900.[3]

Three of the 12 finalists from the 1932 Games returned: gold medalist Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici of Italy, fourth-place finisher Saverio Ragno of Italy, and tenth-place finisher Raúl Saucedo of Argentina. Hans Drakenberg of Sweden was the reigning (1935) World Champion as well as European champion; Pál Dunay of Hungary had been World Champion in 1934.[3]

Brazil, Poland, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the event. Belgium and the United States each appeared for the eighth time, tied for most among nations.

Competition format

The competition format was pool play round-robin, with bouts to three touches (unlike foil and sabre, but continuing the format from 1932). The format returned to four rounds. Not all bouts were played in some pools if not necessary to determine advancement. Two points were awarded for each bout won; if both fencers scored a hit simultaneously to make the bout 3–3, each received one point for the "null match". Ties were broken through fence-off bouts in early rounds if necessary for determining advancement, but by touches received in final rounds (and for non-advancement-necessary placement in earlier rounds).[4]

  • Round 1: 8 pools of between 7 and 10 fencers each. The top 5 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
  • Quarterfinals: 4 pools of 10 fencers each. The top 5 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.
  • Semifinals: 2 pools of 10 fencers each. The top 5 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.
  • Final: 1 pool of 10 fencers.

Schedule

Date Time Round
Sunday, 9 August 1936 9:00 Round 1
Monday, 10 August 1936 9:00
15:00		 Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Tuesday, 11 August 1936 13:00 Final

Results

Round 1

The top five finishers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.[5]

Pool 1

De Beaumont is listed in 8th place and Schröder in 9th place in the official report, but Schröder had more points than de Beaumont.[5]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Nicolae Marinescu  Romania 12 6 3 0 22 17 Q
2 Hans Drakenberg  Sweden 10 5 1 0 17 9 Q
3 Antonio Villamil  Argentina 10 5 1 0 17 10 Q
4 Béla Bay  Hungary 10 5 2 0 19 13 Q
5 Roman Kantor  Poland 10 5 4 0 21 22 Q
6 Mahmoud Abdin  Egypt 8 4 5 0 20 21
7 Nicolaas van Hoorn  Netherlands 6 3 5 0 19 18
8 Otto Schröder  Germany 5 2 5 1 17 21
9 Charles de Beaumont  Great Britain 4 2 6 0 12 20
10 Bertrand Boissonnault  Canada 3 1 6 1 8 23

Pool 2

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Henrique de Aguilar  Brazil 12 6 0 0 18 5 Q
2 Preben Christiansen  Denmark 9 4 1 1 16 12 Q
3 Gustaf Dyrssen  Sweden 8 4 2 0 14 10 Q
4 Pál Dunay  Hungary 7 3 2 1 14 14 Q
5 Khristos Zalokostas  Greece 6 3 3 0 13 11 Q
6 Antoni Franz  Poland 5 2 4 1 15 19
7 Robert Bergmann  Czechoslovakia 3 1 4 1 11 17
8 Karl Hanisch  Austria 0 0 8 0 8 21

Pool 3

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Hans Granfelt  Sweden 12 6 2 0 22 12 Q
2 Hervé, Count du Monceau de Bergendael  Belgium 12 6 2 0 20 15 Q
3 François Duret  Switzerland 10 5 2 0 18 11 Q
4 Egill Knutzen  Norway 10 5 3 0 18 14 Q
5 Marcel Boulad  Egypt 8 4 4 0 15 16 Q
6 Gustave Heiss  United States 6 3 5 0 13 20
7 Henri Dulieux  France 4 2 5 0 14 18
8 František Vohryzek  Czechoslovakia 4 2 5 0 12 19
9 Douglas Dexter  Great Britain 2 1 6 0 12 19

Pool 4

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Raymond Stasse  Belgium 12 6 1 0 19 8 Q
2 Paulo Leal  Portugal 11 5 1 1 19 11 Q
3 Ian Campbell-Gray  Great Britain 10 5 2 0 17 12 Q
4 Saverio Ragno  Italy 10 5 3 0 18 15 Q
5 Rezső von Bartha  Hungary 10 5 3 0 19 16 Q
6 Josef Kunt  Czechoslovakia 6 3 4 0 14 17
7 Denis Dolecsko  Romania 4 2 5 0 9 16
8 Roman Fischer  Austria 3 1 6 1 15 21
9 Ernest Dalton  Canada 0 0 7 0 7 21

Pool 5

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Franco Riccardi  Italy 14 7 0 0 21 8 Q
2 Siegfried Lerdon  Germany 8 4 1 0 13 6 Q
3 Aage Leidersdorff  Denmark 8 4 2 0 13 10 Q
4 Cornelis Weber  Netherlands 6 3 2 0 13 8 Q
5 Ioan Miclescu-Prăjescu  Romania 6 3 3 0 13 12 Q
6 Ricardo Romero  Chile 4 2 5 0 10 18
7 Ivan Vladimir Mažuranić  Yugoslavia 2 1 5 0 8 16
8 Moacyr Dunham  Brazil 0 0 6 0 5 18

Pool 6

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Antonio Haro  Mexico 9 4 1 1 17 7 Q
2 Charles Debeur  Belgium 8 4 2 0 15 13 Q
3 Gustavo Carinhas  Portugal 6 3 2 0 11 10 Q
4 Tomas Barraza  Chile 6 3 2 0 10 12 Q
5 George Tully  Canada 5 2 3 1 14 14 Q
6 Frank Righeimer  United States 4 2 4 0 11 13
7 Dimitar Vasilev  Bulgaria 2 1 5 0 6 15

Pool 7

In the three-way tie for fourth, Martínez came last to da Silveira and Guthe, with the latter two advancing.[6]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Frédéric Fitting  Switzerland 12 6 2 0 21 12 Q
2 Willem Driebergen  Netherlands 11 5 2 1 21 15 Q
3 Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici  Italy 11 5 2 1 22 16 Q
4 Henrique da Silveira  Portugal 10 5 3 0 19 14 Q
5 Thorstein Guthe  Norway 10 5 3 0 20 17 Q
6 José Martínez  Mexico 10 5 3 0 18 18
7 Ennio de Oliveira  Brazil 4 2 6 0 13 19
8 Mauris Shamil  Egypt 2 1 7 0 11 22
9 Rudolf Weber  Austria 0 1 7 0 11 23

Pool 8

In the three-way tie for fourth, Martínez came last to da Silveira and Guthe, with the latter two advancing.[6]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Frederick Weber  United States 12 6 0 0 18 8 Q
2 Michel Pécheux  France 10 5 1 0 15 9 Q
3 Jean Hauert  Switzerland 8 4 2 0 15 9 Q
4 Erik Hammer Sørensen  Denmark 7 3 3 1 15 18 Q
5 Raúl Saucedo  Argentina 6 3 4 0 16 13 Q
6 Ernst Röthig  Germany 6 2 3 2 16 17
7 Konstantinos Bembis  Greece 2 1 6 0 7 20
8 Krešo Tretinjak  Yugoslavia 1 0 5 1 10 18

Quarterfinals

The top five finishers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.[7]

Quarterfinal 1

In the four-way tie for third place, Knutzen finished last in the play-off with Debeur, da Silveira, and Granfelt, with the latter three advancing.[7]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Michel Pécheux  France 12 6 3 0 21 19 Q
2 Charles Debeur  Belgium 11 5 2 1 20 16 Q
3 Henrique da Silveira  Portugal 10 5 4 0 18 16 Q
4 Hans Granfelt  Sweden 10 5 4 0 21 18 Q
5 Jean Hauert  Switzerland 10 5 4 0 20 19 Q
6 Egill Knutzen  Norway 10 5 4 0 24 21
7 Frederick Weber  United States 9 4 4 1 20 20
8 George Tully  Canada 6 3 6 0 18 21
9 Pál Dunay  Hungary 5 1 5 3 20 26
10 Aage Leidersdorff  Denmark 3 1 6 1 15 21

Quarterfinal 2

Campbell-Gray defeated Miclescu-Prăjescu in a play-off bout to break to the tie for fifth and last advancement spot. The official report lists Weber 9th and Duret 8th, though the scoring system would put Weber in 8th with fewer touches received.[7]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Hans Drakenberg  Sweden 15 7 1 1 26 13 Q
2 Roman Kantor  Poland 14 7 2 0 23 12 Q
3 Raymond Stasse  Belgium 14 7 2 0 23 15 Q
4 Saverio Ragno  Italy 12 6 2 0 21 12 Q
5 Ian Campbell-Gray  Great Britain 8 4 5 0 19 18 Q
6 Ioan Miclescu-Prăjescu  Romania 8 3 4 2 21 21
7 Preben Christiansen  Denmark 4 2 6 0 7 21
8 Cornelis Weber  Netherlands 4 1 5 2 13 22
9 François Duret  Switzerland 4 1 6 2 17 26
10 Thorstein Guthe  Norway 3 1 5 1 13 23

Quarterfinal 3

It is unclear why Villamil did not face Barraza, Driebergen did not face Leal, and Boulad did not face Bay. In general, bouts unnecessary to advancement were not played, but each of the three men eliminated in 6th through 8th place were within 2 points of the 5th-place finisher Zalokostas and could have caught him with an additional win (or even tie for Villamil), though Zalokostas himself had an unplayed bout against Hammer Sørensen and could have added to his point total.[7]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Franco Riccardi  Italy 12 6 1 0 20 9 Q
2 Béla Bay  Hungary 11 5 2 1 21 14 Q
3 Paulo Leal  Portugal 10 5 2 0 16 11 Q
4 Frédéric Fitting  Switzerland 10 5 3 0 22 13 Q
5 Khristos Zalokostas  Greece 8 4 2 2 20 19 Q
6 Antonio Villamil  Argentina 7 3 4 1 17 17
7 Willem Driebergen  Netherlands 6 3 5 0 14 16
8 Marcel Boulad  Egypt 6 3 5 0 15 21
9 Erik Hammer Sørensen  Denmark 2 1 6 0 8 19
10 Tomas Barraza  Chile 0 0 7 0 7 21

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Antonio Haro  Mexico 12 6 2 0 20 11 Q
2 Siegfried Lerdon  Germany 10 5 2 0 17 9 Q
3 Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici  Italy 10 5 3 0 21 14 Q
4 Henrique de Aguilar  Brazil 10 5 3 0 18 14 Q
5 Hervé, Count du Monceau de Bergendael  Belgium 10 5 4 0 21 20 Q
6 Raúl Saucedo  Argentina 6 3 5 0 15 19
6 Gustavo Carinhas  Portugal 6 3 5 0 14 19
6 Rezső von Bartha  Hungary 6 3 5 0 12 19
9 Nicolae Marinescu  Romania 6 3 5 0 12 21
10 Gustaf Dyrssen  Sweden 4 2 6 0 15 19

Semifinals

The top five finishers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.[8]

Semifinal 1

In the four-way tie for third place, Pécheux finished last in the play-off with Debeur, Zalokostas, and Cornaggia-Medici, with the latter three advancing.[8]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Ian Campbell-Gray  Great Britain 18 9 0 0 27 9 Q
2 Saverio Ragno  Italy 12 6 3 0 20 20 Q
3 Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici  Italy 10 5 4 0 19 13 Q
4 Khristos Zalokostas  Greece 10 5 4 0 19 19 Q
5 Charles Debeur  Belgium 10 5 4 0 23 22 Q
6 Michel Pécheux  France 10 5 4 0 23 19
7 Hans Granfelt  Sweden 8 4 5 0 20 21
8 Antonio Haro  Mexico 5 2 6 1 15 24
9 Paulo Leal  Portugal 5 2 6 1 15 25
10 Jean Hauert  Switzerland 2 1 8 0 15 26

Semifinal 2

In the four-way tie for fifth place, Drakenberg won the play-off pool against Kantor, Fitting, and Lerdon.[8]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR Notes
1 Raymond Stasse  Belgium 15 7 1 1 26 13 Q
2 Franco Riccardi  Italy 13 6 1 1 23 13 Q
3 Henrique da Silveira  Portugal 10 5 3 0 18 11 Q
4 Béla Bay  Hungary 10 5 4 0 20 16 Q
5 Hans Drakenberg  Sweden 8 3 4 2 19 22 Q
6 Roman Kantor  Poland 8 4 5 0 17 22
7 Frédéric Fitting  Switzerland 8 4 5 0 19 23
7 Siegfried Lerdon  Germany 8 3 4 2 20 23
9 Hervé, Count du Monceau de Bergendael  Belgium 4 2 7 0 15 22
10 Henrique de Aguilar  Brazil 4 2 7 0 13 25

Final

The Italian fencers swept the medals. Ties in the final were broken by touches received, including Ragno taking silver to Cornaggia-Medici's bronze by a touches received score of 15–16 (Ragno had beaten Cornaggia-Medici head-to-head in the final after losing to him in the semifinal). Riccardi beat both of his countrymen in their bouts, ultimately taking gold with 1 point more than either despite winning 1 fewer bout due to his 3 ties.[8]

Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ties TS TR
1st place, gold medalist(s) Franco Riccardi  Italy 13 5 1 3 25 18
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Saverio Ragno  Italy 12 6 3 0 24 15
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici  Italy 12 6 3 0 22 16
4 Hans Drakenberg  Sweden 10 4 3 2 20 20
5 Charles Debeur  Belgium 9 4 4 1 21 21
6 Henrique da Silveira  Portugal 8 4 5 0 18 19
7 Raymond Stasse  Belgium 8 3 4 2 21 21
8 Ian Campbell-Gray  Great Britain 8 3 4 2 18 24
9 Béla Bay  Hungary 7 3 5 1 18 22
10 Khristos Zalokostas  Greece 3 1 7 1 15 26

References

  1. ^ "Fencing: 1936 Olympic Results - Men's épée". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  2. ^ Official Olympic Report, la84.org. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Épée, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 756.
  5. ^ a b Official Report, p. 778.
  6. ^ a b Official Report, p. 779.
  7. ^ a b c d Official Report, p. 780.
  8. ^ a b c d Official Report, p. 781.