A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Men's épée at the Games of the XIV Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Fencing pictogram | ||||||||||
| Venue | British Empire Exhibition | |||||||||
| Dates | 7–9 August | |||||||||
| Competitors | 66 from 25 nations | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Fencing at the 1948 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Épée | men | |
| Team épée | men | |
| Foil | men | women |
| Team foil | men | |
| Sabre | men | |
| Team sabre | men | |
The men's épée was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1948 Summer Olympics programme. It was the tenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 7 August 1948 to 9 August 1948. 66 fencers from 25 nations competed.[1] The event was won by Luigi Cantone of Italy, the nation's third consecutive victory in the men's épée (matching France for most all-time). Italy also earned its third consecutive bronze medal in the event, with Edoardo Mangiarotti's third-place finish. Between the two Italians was Oswald Zappelli of Switzerland, taking the silver medal.
Background
This was the 10th 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.[2]
One of the 10 finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned: fifth-place finisher Charles Debeur of Belgium. The reigning (1947) World Champion, Édouard Artigas of France, competed in the team event but not the individual event.
Colombia and Luxembourg each made their debut in the event. Belgium and the United States each appeared for the ninth time, tied for most among nations.
Competition format
The competition format was pool play round-robin, with bouts to three 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).[3] A barrage was held for the silver and bronze medals when the two fencers finished event on record, touches received, and touches scored.
The 1948 competition introduced byes for team event finalists.
- Round 1: 8 pools of between 5 and 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
- Quarterfinals: 6 pools between 6 and 7 fencers each. The top 3 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.
- Semifinals: 2 pools of 9 fencers each. The top 5 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.
- Final: 1 pool of 10 fencers.
Schedule
All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 7 August 1948 | Round 1 | |
| Monday, 9 August 1948 | Quarterfinals Semifinals Final |
Results
Round 1
The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to round 2.[3] Fencers from the four teams that advanced to the final of the men's team épée event received byes through round 1:
- Denmark: Mogens Lüchow and Ib Nielsen
- France: Marcel Desprets, Henri Guérin, and Henri Lepage
- Italy: Carlo Agostoni, Luigi Cantone, and Edoardo Mangiarotti
- Sweden: Frank Cervell, Carl Forssell, and Bengt Ljungquist
Pool 1
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Lips |  Switzerland |
4 | 2 | Q |
| 2 | Mohamed Abdel Rahman |  Egypt |
4 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Raúl Saucedo |  Argentina |
3 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Paul Anen |  Luxembourg |
3 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Álvaro Pinto |  Portugal |
2 | 4 | |
| 6 | Enrique Accorsi |  Chile |
2 | 4 | |
| 7 | Ilmari Vartia |  Finland |
1 | 5 |
Pool 2
Biancalana defeated Mørch and Wolff in a three-way barrage for fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Villamil | Argentina |
6 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Émile Gretsch | Luxembourg |
4 | 3 | Q |
| 3 | Nils Sjöblom | Finland |
4 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Mario Biancalana |  Brazil |
3 | 4 | Q |
| 5 | Claus Mørch Sr. |  Norway |
3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Albert Wolff |  United States |
3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Manuel Chagas | Portugal |
2 | 5 | |
| 8 | Alfonso Ahumada |  Colombia |
0 | 7 |
Pool 3
Simonetti defeated Meraz and Pouliot in a three-way barrage for fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bert Pelling |  Great Britain |
5 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Rodolphe Spillmann | Switzerland |
5 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Charles Debeur |  Belgium |
3 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Vito Simonetti | Argentina |
2 | 4 | Q |
| 5 | Emilio Meraz |  Mexico |
2 | 4 | |
| 6 | Georges Pouliot |  Canada |
2 | 4 | |
| 7 | Ignacio Goldstein | Chile |
0 | 6 |
Pool 4
Radoux defeated de Barros and Nawrocki in a three-way barrage for fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pál Dunay |  Hungary |
6 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Alf Horn | Canada |
6 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Charles de Beaumont | Great Britain |
5 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Jean-Marie Radoux | Belgium |
3 | 4 | Q |
| 5 | Fortunato de Barros | Brazil |
3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Jan Nawrocki |  Poland |
3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Ioannis Karamazakis |  Greece |
1 | 6 | |
| 8 | Francisco Valero | Mexico |
0 | 7 |
Pool 5
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oswald Zappelli | Switzerland |
5 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Antonio Haro | Mexico |
3 | 3 | Q |
| Ronald Parfitt | Great Britain |
3 | 3 | Q | |
| 4 | Andreas Skotidas | Greece |
3 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Raoul Henkart | Belgium |
2 | 4 | |
| 6 | Béla Mikla | Hungary |
2 | 4 | |
| 7 | Rajmund Karwicki | Poland |
1 | 5 |
Pool 6
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egill Knutzen | Norway |
5 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Roland Asselin | Canada |
5 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Imre Hennyei | Hungary |
4 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Roberto Camargo | Colombia |
4 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Erkki Kerttula | Finland |
3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Henrique de Aguilar | Brazil |
3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Athanasios Nanopoulos | Greece |
2 | 5 | |
| 8 | Jean-Fernand Leischen | Luxembourg |
0 | 6 |
Pool 7
Younes defeated Iturri in a barrage for fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe de Capriles | United States |
4 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Alfred Eriksen | Norway |
2 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Carlos Lamar |  Cuba |
2 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Mahmoud Younes | Egypt |
1 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Carlos Iturri |  Peru |
1 | 3 |
Pool 8
Younes defeated Iturri in a barrage for fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norman Lewis | United States |
4 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Roelof Hordijk |  Netherlands |
1 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Roberto Mañalich | Cuba |
1 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Jean Asfar | Egypt |
1 | 3 | Q |
| 5 | Emílio Lino | Portugal |
0 | 4 |
Quarterfinals
The top 3 finishers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.[4]
Quarterfinal 1
Camargo defeated de Capriles and Horn in a three-way barrage for third place.