Fencing at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's foil

Men's foil
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Men's foil; at the Games of the XI Olympiad
	Giulio Gaudini (1928)
Venue	Imperial Sports Field, Berlin
Dates	5–6 August
Competitors	62 from 22 nations
Medalists
	← 1932 1948 →

The men's foil 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 5 August 1936 to 6 August 1936. 62 fencers from 22 nations competed. Nations were limited to three fencers.^[1]^[2] The event was won by Giulio Gaudini of Italy, the nation's second consecutive and fourth overall victory in the men's foil (matching France for most all-time). Gaudini, who had won bronze medals in 1928 and 1932, was the first man to win three medals in the event. His countryman Giorgio Bocchino took bronze. Edward Gardère put France back on the podium after a one-Games absence.

Background

This was the ninth 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). Seven of the ten 1932 finalists returned: silver medalist (and 1928 finalist) Joe Levis of the United States, two-time bronze medalist Giulio Gaudini and fourth-place finisher Gioacchino Guaragna of Italy, fifth-place finisher Erwin Casmir of Germany, sixth-place finisher Emrys Lloyd of Great Britain, and seventh-place finisher Roberto Larraz and tenth-place finisher Ángel Gorordo of Argentina. Gaudini, the 2.00 metres tall Italian, was one of the best fencers of the 1920s and 1930s and was one of the favorites in Berlin. His main competition were his fellow Italians and the French team, particularly European champion André Gardère and his brother Edward Gardère.^[3]

Brazil and Bulgaria each made their debut in the men's foil. The United States made its eighth appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the inaugural 1896 competition.

Competition format

The event used a five-round format. In each round, the fencers were divided into pools to play a round-robin within the pool. Bouts were to five touches. Not all bouts were played in some pools if not necessary to determine advancement. Two points were awarded for each bout won. 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). 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.^[3]^[4]

Round 1: There were 9 pools of 6–8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to round 2.
Round 2: There were 6 pools of 6 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals: There were 4 pools of 6 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

Date	Time	Round
Wednesday, 5 August 1936	9:00 17:50 21:00	Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals
Thursday, 6 August 1936	9:00 15:00	Semifinals Final

Results

Round 1

The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to round 2.^[5]

Pool 1

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Giulio Gaudini	Italy	10	5	1	29	12	Q
2	Bengt Ljungquist	Sweden	8	4	2	26	14	Q
3	Paul Valcke	Belgium	8	4	2	26	20	Q
4	Bohuslav Kirchmann	Czechoslovakia	8	4	2	24	22	Q
5	Ángel Gorordo	Argentina	6	3	3	20	18
6	César Barros	Chile	2	1	5	7	29
7	Spyridon Ferentinos	Greece	0	0	6	13	30

Pool 2

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	André Gardère	France	10	5	0	25	8	Q
2	Roberto Larraz	Argentina	8	4	1	24	13	Q
3	Konstantinos Bembis	Greece	6	3	2	20	15	Q
4	Gottfried von Meiss	Switzerland	4	2	3	17	19	Q
5	Ricardo Vagnotti	Brazil	2	1	4	10	22
6	Mirko Koršič	Yugoslavia	0	0	5	7	25

Pool 3

Pecora defeated Pearce in a play-off for the fourth qualification spot.^[5]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Erwin Casmir	Germany	12	6	0	30	10	Q
2	Lajos Maszlay	Hungary	10	5	1	27	16	Q
3	Aage Leidersdorff	Denmark	10	5	2	30	26	Q
4	Bill Pecora	United States	8	4	3	25	24	Q
5	Denis Pearce	Great Britain	8	4	3	26	25
6	Hervarth Frass von Friedenfeldt	Czechoslovakia	4	2	5	21	28
7	Mauris Shamil	Egypt	2	1	6	21	32
8	Hubert de Bèsche	Sweden	0	0	7	16	35

Pool 4

The three-way tie for third was determined by play-off, with Goyoaga coming last against Tingdahl and Jesenský resulting in the latter two fencers advancing.^[5]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Emrys Lloyd	Great Britain	10	5	0	25	7	Q
2	Josef Losert	Austria	8	4	1	22	15	Q
3	Ivar Tingdahl	Sweden	4	2	3	18	19	Q
4	Jiří Jesenský	Czechoslovakia	4	2	3	16	22	Q
5	Tomás Goyoaga	Chile	4	2	3	17	18
6	Marjan Pengov	Yugoslavia	0	0	5	8	25

Pool 5

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	József Hátszeghy	Hungary	10	5	0	25	10	Q
2	René Lemoine	France	8	4	1	23	14	Q
3	August Heim	Germany	6	3	1	19	8	Q
4	Johan Falkenberg	Norway	6	3	1	18	10	Q
5	Svend Jacobsen	Denmark	2	1	4	11	21
6	Jean Rubli	Switzerland	0	0	4	8	20
7	Hermogenes Valdebenito	Chile	0	0	5	4	25

Pool 6

The three-way tie for third was determined by play-off, with Valenzuela coming last against Bay and Frølich resulting in the latter two fencers advancing.^[6]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Joe Levis	United States	12	6	0	30	13	Q
2	Mahmoud Abdin	Egypt	10	5	1	26	20	Q
3	Béla Bay	Hungary	6	3	3	25	20	Q
4	Jens Frølich	Norway	6	3	3	26	23	Q
5	Rodolfo Valenzuela	Argentina	6	3	3	23	22
6	Lodovico Alessandri	Brazil	2	1	5	18	29
7	Ernest Dalton	Canada	0	0	6	9	30

Pool 7

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Georges de Bourguignon	Belgium	10	5	0	25	15	Q
2	Giorgio Bocchino	Italy	8	4	0	20	9	Q
3	Michel Fauconnet	Switzerland	6	3	1	19	10	Q
4	Josef Ritz	Austria	6	3	3	21	24	Q
5	Caspar Schrøder	Denmark	4	2	4	19	26
6	Moacyr Dunham	Brazil	0	0	4	10	20
7	Nils Jørgensen	Norway	0	0	5	15	25

Pool 8

Alessandroni defeated Bartlett in a tie-breaker play-off.^[6]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Edward Gardère	France	10	5	1	28	14	Q
2	Julius Eisenecker	Germany	8	4	2	28	17	Q
3	Karl Sudrich	Austria	8	4	1	22	16	Q
4	Hugh Alessandroni	United States	6	3	3	23	25	Q
5	David Bartlett	Great Britain	6	3	3	22	23
6	Dimitar Vasilev	Bulgaria	2	1	5	6	26
7	Don Collinge	Canada	0	0	5	12	25

Pool 9

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Gioacchino Guaragna	Italy	10	5	0	25	7	Q
2	Nikolaos Manolesos	Greece	8	4	1	21	17	Q
3	Raymond Bru	Belgium	6	3	2	21	16	Q
4	Edo Marion	Yugoslavia	6	3	2	18	19	Q
5	Charles Otis	Canada	2	1	4	13	24
5	Paul Kunze	Netherlands	2	1	4	9	24
7	Anwar Tawfik	Egypt	2	1	5	20	28

Round 2

The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to round 3.^[7]

Pool 1

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Joe Levis	United States	8	4	1	24	16	Q
2	Paul Valcke	Belgium	8	4	1	24	18	Q
3	Julius Eisenecker	Germany	4	2	3	19	19	Q
4	Giorgio Bocchino	Italy	4	2	3	16	22	Q
5	Michel Fauconnet	Switzerland	4	2	3	17	20
6	Karl Sudrich	Austria	2	1	4	17	22

Pool 2

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Giulio Gaudini	Italy	6	3	1	19	9	Q
2	József Hátszeghy	Hungary	6	3	1	16	12	Q
3	Josef Losert	Austria	6	3	1	17	17	Q
4	Johan Falkenberg	Norway	4	2	1	12	10	Q
5	Ivar Tingdahl	Sweden	2	1	4	15	24
6	Gottfried von Meiss	Switzerland	0	0	4	13	20

Pool 3

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Edward Gardère	France	8	4	0	20	8	Q
2	Lajos Maszlay	Hungary	6	3	1	18	11	Q
3	Georges de Bourguignon	Belgium	6	3	1	19	13	Q
4	Jiří Jesenský	Czechoslovakia	4	2	3	15	21	Q
5	August Heim	Germany	2	1	4	17	23
6	Josef Ritz	Austria	0	0	4	7	20

Pool 4

It is unclear why Marion did not face at least one of Bembis and Lloyd; two additional wins would have placed Marion even with Leidersdorff and Abdin in points (though they each had additional bouts that could have earned them more, if necessary).^[7]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Emrys Lloyd	Great Britain	6	3	0	15	6	Q
2	Roberto Larraz	Argentina	6	3	1	18	11	Q
3	Aage Leidersdorff	Denmark	4	2	1	11	9	Q
4	Mahmoud Abdin	Egypt	4	2	1	11	10	Q
5	Edo Marion	Yugoslavia	0	0	3	4	15
6	Konstantinos Bembis	Greece	0	0	4	10	20

Pool 5

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	André Gardère	France	8	4	1	24	13	Q
2	Raymond Bru	Belgium	6	3	1	18	12	Q
3	Gioacchino Guaragna	Italy	6	3	1	17	12	Q
4	Jens Frølich	Norway	4	2	3	16	23	Q
5	Hugh Alessandroni	United States	2	1	4	17	22
5	Nikolaos Manolesos	Greece	2	1	4	12	22

Pool 6

Ljungquist defeated Pecora in a tie-breaker play-off.^[7]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Erwin Casmir	Germany	10	5	0	25	14	Q
2	Béla Bay	Hungary	6	3	2	18	13	Q
3	René Lemoine	France	8	3	2	20	21	Q
4	Bengt Ljungquist	Sweden	4	2	3	18	19	Q
5	Bill Pecora	United States	4	2	3	16	20
6	Bohuslav Kirchmann	Czechoslovakia	0	0	5	15	25

Quarterfinals

The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.^[8]

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Giulio Gaudini	Italy	8	4	0	20	5	Q
2	André Gardère	France	6	3	1	17	12	Q
2	Julius Eisenecker	Germany	6	3	1	15	12	Q
4	Béla Bay	Hungary	4	2	2	13	17	Q
5	Johan Falkenberg	Norway	0	0	4	6	20
5	Roberto Larraz	Argentina	0	0	4	15	20

Quarterfinal 2

The three-way tie for third was determined by play-off, with Maszlay coming last against Bru and Losert resulting in the latter two fencers advancing.^[8]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Joe Levis	United States	10	5	0	25	16	Q
2	Edward Gardère	France	6	3	1	18	9	Q
3	Raymond Bru	Belgium	4	2	3	21	22	Q
4	Josef Losert	Austria	4	2	3	17	18	Q
5	Lajos Maszlay	Hungary	4	2	3	17	20
6	Bengt Ljungquist	Sweden	0	0	4	7	20

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Erwin Casmir	Germany	8	4	1	23	13	Q
2	Gioacchino Guaragna	Italy	6	3	1	18	10	Q
3	József Hátszeghy	Hungary	6	3	2	20	19	Q
4	Georges de Bourguignon	Belgium	4	2	2	18	15	Q
5	Jens Frølich	Norway	2	1	4	15	24
5	Jiří Jesenský	Czechoslovakia	2	1	4	11	24

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Giorgio Bocchino	Italy	6	3	1	17	11	Q
2	René Lemoine	France	6	3	1	17	12	Q
3	Paul Valcke	Belgium	6	3	1	16	13	Q
4	Emrys Lloyd	Great Britain	6	3	2	19	14	Q
5	Mahmoud Abdin	Egypt	2	1	4	17	22
6	Aage Leidersdorff	Denmark	0	0	4	6	20

Semifinals

The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to the final.^[9]

Semifinal 1

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Giulio Gaudini	Italy	12	6	1	34	20	Q
2	Giorgio Bocchino	Italy	10	5	1	28	18	Q
3	André Gardère	France	8	4	2	26	19	Q
4	Raymond Bru	Belgium	8	4	3	25	26	Q
5	Emrys Lloyd	Great Britain	6	3	4	28	24
6	Paul Valcke	Belgium	4	2	5	19	28
7	József Hátszeghy	Hungary	4	2	5	20	31
8	Julius Eisenecker	Germany	2	1	6	20	34

Semifinal 2

The three-way tie for third was determined by play-off, with Maszlay coming last against Bru and Losert resulting in the latter two fencers advancing.^[8]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR	Notes
1	Gioacchino Guaragna	Italy	12	6	0	30	12	Q
2	Erwin Casmir	Germany	10	5	1	28	18	Q
3	Edward Gardère	France	10	5	1	29	21	Q
4	Georges de Bourguignon	Belgium	8	4	3	28	29	Q
5	Béla Bay	Hungary	6	3	4	27	28
6	René Lemoine	France	4	2	5	19	32
7	Joe Levis	United States	2	1	5	19	25
8	Josef Losert	Austria	0	0	6	15	30

Final

In the final pool, ties—including the tie for the bronze medal—were broken by touches received rather than by play-offs as in previous rounds.^[9]

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Points	Wins	Losses	TS	TR
	Giulio Gaudini	Italy	14	7	0	35	20
	Edward Gardère	France	12	6	1	33	25
	Giorgio Bocchino	Italy	8	4	3	28	22
4	Erwin Casmir	Germany	8	4	3	31	29
5	Gioacchino Guaragna	Italy	6	3	4	30	28
6	Raymond Bru	Belgium	6	3	4	25	31
7	André Gardère	France	2	1	6	23	32
8	Georges de Bourguignon	Belgium	0	0	7	17	35

References

^ "Fencing: 1936 Olympic Results - Men's foil". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
^ Official Olympic Report, la84.org. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Foil, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
^ Official Report, p. 756.
^ ^a ^b ^c Official Report, p. 760.
^ ^a ^b Official Report, p. 761.
^ ^a ^b ^c Official Report, p. 762.
^ ^a ^b ^c Official Report, p. 763.
^ ^a ^b Official Report, p. 764.

[sports-reference-1] "Fencing: 1936 Olympic Results - Men's foil". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2010.

[OfficialReport-2] Official Olympic Report, la84.org. Retrieved 27 August 2018.

[Olympedia-3] "Foil, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 19 November 2020.

[OR756-4] Official Report, p. 756.

[OR760-5] Official Report, p. 760.

[OR761-6] Official Report, p. 761.

[OR762-7] Official Report, p. 762.

[OR763-8] Official Report, p. 763.

[OR764-9] Official Report, p. 764.

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