Fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's épée

Men's épée
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue Franco-British Exhibition fencing grounds
Dates July 17–24
Competitors 85 from 12 nations
Medalists
    France
    France
    France
«1904 1912»
Fencing at the
1908 Summer Olympics
Épée men
Team épée men
Sabre men
Team sabre men

The men's épée was one of four fencing events on the Fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. The medals were swept by the French fencers, who also took the gold medal in the team épée event.

Contents

Results

First round

The first round was conducted in round-robin format, to one touch. Pool sizes ranged from 5 to 8 fencers. Double-touches counted against both fencers. The three contestants who had been struck the fewest times advanced.

Pool A

Fildes and von Rosen had a double-touch, as did Stöhr and Fildes.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Lauritz Østrup Denmark 5 1
2 Bernard Gravier France 4 2
Jaroslav Šourek-Tucek Bohemia 4 2
4 Eric Carlberg Sweden 3 3
5 Pontus von Rosen Sweden 3 4[1]
6 Georg Stöhr Germany 2 5
7 Luke Fildes Great Britain 2 6

Pool B

Double-touches were between Gates and van Schreven, Jack and Gates, and Collignon and van Schreven.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Vlastimil Lada-Sázavský Bohemia 5 1
2 Charles Colignon France 5 2
3 Pietro Speciale Italy 3 3
4 Herbert Sander Denmark 2 4
Johan van Schreven Netherlands 4 4
6 Walter Gates South Africa 3 5
Fritz Jack Germany 2 5

Pool C

Blake and Dwinger had the only double-touch in this six-man pool.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Joseph Marais France 5 0
2 Ejnar Levison Denmark 3 2
Gaston Renard Belgium 3 2
4 Johannes Adam Germany 1 4
John Blake Great Britain 2 4
Max Dwinger Netherlands 2 4

Pool D

The fourth pool had 8 fencers. Berger was clearly the best of the crowd, going untouched in his seven bouts. When five different fencers tied for second place at 4 touches against apiece, a playoff round-robin was held. The first playoff eliminated only one fencer, with the remaining four again tying and forcing a second playoff. That round resulted in Holt and Tvrzský tying at 1 touch apiece, eliminating the other two fencers.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Henri-Georges Berger France 7 0
2 Otto Becker Denmark 4 4
Hans Bergsland Norway 4 4
Dino Diana Italy 4 4
Martin Holt Great Britain 3 4
Vilém Tvrzský Bohemia 4 4
7 André Sarens Belgium 3 6
George van Rossem Netherlands 2 6

Bergsland was hit three times, finishing sixth overall in the pool while the other four fencers in the playoff each received two hits to advance to a second playoff.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
2 Otto Becker Denmark 3 2
Dino Diana Italy 3 2
Martin Holt Great Britain 2 2
Vilém Tvrzský Bohemia 2 2
6 Hans Bergsland Norway 1 3

Holt and Tvrzský tied for an overall second-place finish in the pool with one touch against apiece (Tvrzský won the bout between the two, but was himself hit by Diana). Becker and Diana placed fourth.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
2 Martin Holt Great Britain 2 1
Vilém Tvrzský Bohemia 2 1
4 Otto Becker Denmark 1 2
Dino Diana Italy 1 2

Pool E

The fifth pool also included 8 fencers, but did not require a playoff. The only touch against Alibert came in a double-touch with van Löben Sels.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Gaston Alibert France 7 1
2 Fernand de Montigny Belgium 5 3
Ivan Osiier Denmark 5 3
4 Percival Davson Great Britain 3 4
Sante Ceccherini Italy 4 4
6 Otakar Lada Bohemia 3 5
7 Robert Krünert Germany 2 6
Maurits Jacob van Löben Sels Netherlands 3 6

Pool F

The sixth competition pool was smaller, with only 6 fencers.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 François Rom Belgium 4 1
2 Giulio Cagiati Italy 4 2
Sydney Martineau Great Britain 3 2
4 Henry Peyron Sweden 3 3
5 Albert Naumann Germany 1 4
Bedrich Schejbal Bohemia 1 4

Pool G

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Leaf Daniell Great Britain 5 1
2 Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf Bohemia 4 2
3 Fernand Bosmans Belgium 4 3
Frédéric Dubordieu France 4 3
Emil Schön Germany 4 3
6 Dezső Földes Hungary 1 5
7 Willem Hubert van Blijenburgh Netherlands 1 6

The Official Report says only that Bosmans defeated Dubordieu and Schön in the playoff, without giving further detail.

Place Fencer Nation
3 Fernand Bosmans Belgium
4 Frédéric Dubordieu France
Emil Schön Germany

Pool H

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Alfred Labouchere Netherlands 5 1
2 Paul Anspach Belgium 5 2
3 Ralph Chalmers Great Britain 3 3
Jacques Rodocanachi France 3 3
5 Jacob Erkrath de Bary Germany 4 4
Alessandro Pirzio Biroli Italy 3 4
7 František Šourek-Tuček[2] Bohemia 0 6

The single bout between Rodocanachi and Chalmers to break the tie for third resulted in a win for the Frenchman.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
3 Jacques Rodocanachi France 1 0
4 Ralph Chalmers Great Britain 0 1

Pool I

The ninth pool was the first of the second day of competition, 18 July.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Robert Montgomerie Great Britain 6 1
2 Gustaf Lindblom Sweden 5 3
Giuseppe Mangiarotti Italy 5 3
René Quenessen France 3 3
5 Frantz Jørgensen Denmark 3 4
6 Percy Nobbs Canada 2 6
August Petri Germany 2 6

Mangiarotti was defeated in the three-way playoff for the two remaining advancement spots.

Place Fencer Nation
2 Gustaf Lindblom Sweden
René Quenessen France
4 Giuseppe Mangiarotti Italy

Pool J

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Edgar Amphlett Great Britain 4 1
Jetze Doorman Netherlands 4 1
3 Eugène Olivier France 3 2
4 Zulavszky Béla Hungary 2 4
Ernst Moldenhauer Germany 1 4
Pietro Sarzano Italy 2 4

Pool K

The eleventh pool was the smallest, with only 5 fencers.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Marcelo Bertinetti Italy 3 1
2 Cecil Haig Great Britain 2 2
Pierre le Blon Belgium 3 2
Simon Okker Netherlands 3 2
5 Georg Branting Sweden 0 4

In the playoff for the second and third spots, le Blon won with Haig taking the final spot. Okker was eliminated.

Place Fencer Nation
2 Pierre le Blon Belgium
3 Cecil Haig Great Britain
4 Simon Okker Netherlands

Pool L

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Alexandre Lippmann France 4 1
François Stuyck Belgium 5 1
3 Riccardo Nowak Italy 3 2
4 Birger Cnattingius Sweden 1 4
Edgar Seligman Great Britain 2 4
6 Gösta Olson Sweden 1 5

Pool M

The final pool also had only 5 fencers.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Jean Stern France 4 1
2 Henry Davids Great Britain 2 2
Marcel van Langenhove Belgium 2 2
4 Julius Lichtenfels Germany 2 3
Tóth Péter Hungary 1 3

Second round

Seven of the eight second round pools had 5 fencers, with the eighth having only 4. 2 advanced to the semifinals from each pool.

Pool 1

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Pierre le Blon Belgium 4 1
2 Jetze Doorman Netherlands 2 2
Jean Stern France 4 2
4 François Stuyck Belgium 1 3
5 Ejnar Levison Denmark 1 4

Doorman again lost to Stern in the playoff bout.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
2 Jean Stern France 1 0
3 Jetze Doorman Netherlands 0 1

Pool 2

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Lauritz Østrup Denmark 3 1
2 Ivan Osiier Denmark 2 2
Gaston Renard Belgium 2 2
Jacques Rodocanachi France 2 2
5 Edgar Amphlett Great Britain 1 3

Renard won the playoff pool, with no further details given in the Official Report.

Place Fencer Nation
2 Gaston Renard Belgium
3 Ivan Osiier Denmark
Jacques Rodocanachi France

Pool 3

Alibert continued on his perfect streak, winning four more bouts untouched.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Gaston Alibert France 4 0
2 Henri-Georges Berger France 3 2
Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf Bohemia 2 2
4 Pietro Speciale Italy 1 3
5 Henry Davids Great Britain 1 4

Berger won the playoff, defeating von Lobsdorf again.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
2 Henri-Georges Berger France 1 0
3 Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf Bohemia 0 1

Pool 4

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Martin Holt Great Britain 3 1
2 Bernard Gravier France 2 2
Robert Montgomerie Great Britain 2 2
Vilém Tvrzský Bohemia 2 2
5 Joseph Marais France 1 3

Montgomerie won against Gravier and Tvrzský in the three-way playoff for the second semifinal spot.

Place Fencer Nation
2 Robert Montgomerie Great Britain
3 Bernard Gravier France
Vilém Tvrzský Bohemia

Pool 5

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Gustaf Lindblom Sweden 3 1
Alexandre Lippmann France 4 1
3 Leaf Daniell Great Britain 3 2
4 Marcelo Bertinetti Italy 1 3
5 Vlastimil Lada-Sázavský Bohemia 0 4

Pool 6

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 François Rom Belgium 3 1
2 Fernand Bosmans Belgium 4 2
3 Charles Colignon France 1 3
Marcel van Langenhove Belgium 2 3
Riccardo Nowak Italy 2 3

Pool 7

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Paul Anspach Belgium 3 1
2 Alfred Labouchere Netherlands 2 2
Sydney Martineau Great Britain 2 2
Fernand de Montigny Belgium 2 2
5 Jaroslav Šourek-Tucek Bohemia 1 3

Labouchere won the three-way playoff for second place and a semifinal spot.

Place Fencer Nation
2 Alfred Labouchere Netherlands
3 Sydney Martineau Great Britain
Fernand de Montigny Belgium

Pool 8

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Cecil Haig Great Britain 2 1
Eugène Olivier France 2 1
3 Giulio Cagiati Italy 1 2
René Quenessen France 1 2

Semifinals

There were two semifinals, each of 8 fencers. The top 4 in each advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Alibert was hit twice, both in double-touches.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Gaston Alibert France 7 2
2 Cecil Haig Great Britain 4 3
Alfred Labouchere Netherlands 4 3
4 Robert Montgomerie Great Britain 3 4
5 Henri-Georges Berger France 4 5
Gaston Renard Belgium 3 5
François Rom Belgium 5 5
8 Fernand Bosmans Belgium 4 7

Semifinal 2

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Paul Anspach Belgium 5 2
2 Martin Holt Great Britain 4 3
3 Alexandre Lippmann France 5 4
Eugène Olivier France 5 4
Jean Stern France 3 4
6 Gustaf Lindblom Sweden 4 5
Lauritz Østrup Denmark 5 5
8 Pierre le Blon Belgium 2 6
Place Fencer Nation For Against
3 Alexandre Lippmann France 2 0
4 Eugène Olivier France 1 1
5 Jean Stern France 0 2

Final

The final resulted in Alibert taking the championship after again hitting all opponents, though he suffered another pair of double-touches. There was a three-way tie for second place between two Frenchman and Montgomerie of the British team.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
1 Gaston Alibert France 7 2
2 Alexandre Lippmann France 5 3
Robert Montgomerie Great Britain 6 3
Eugène Olivier France 4 3
5 Paul Anspach Belgium 2 5
Cecil Haig Great Britain 2 5
Alfred Labouchere Netherlands 2 5
8 Martin Holt Great Britain 2 6

The playoff pool for second and third resulted in wins for the two French fencers, completing France's medal sweep in the event.

Place Fencer Nation For Against
2 Alexandre Lippmann France 2 0
3 Eugène Olivier France 1 1
4 Robert Montgomerie Great Britain 0 2

Notes

  1. ^ The Official Report lists von Rosen's hits against as "3", but shows him being hit by Carlberg, Gravier, and Østrup as well as scoring a double-touch against Fildes for a total of 4 hits against.
  2. ^ comdat.w.interia.pl

Sources