# Fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Women's foil

The women's foil was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics programme. It was the sixth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 26 July 1952 to 27 July 1952. 37 fencers from 15 nations competed.

## Competition format

The competition format was pool play round-robin, with bouts to four touches except in the final where bouts were to five 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. Ties not necessary for advancement were either not broken (if at least one fencer had not finished all bouts in the round-robin) or broken first by touches received and then by touches scored. In the final, ties were broken by barrage if necessary for medal placement but otherwise first by touches received and then by touches scored.

## Results
### Round 1

The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to round 2.

#### Pool 1

Garilhe and Sheen defeated Cesari in a three-way barrage for third and fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Lilo Allgayer | Germany | 5 | 0 | 20 | 10 | Q |
| 2 | Margit Elek | Hungary | 3 | 2 | | 14 | Q |
| 3 | Renée Garilhe | France | 2 | 3 | 16 | 15 | Q |
| 3 | Gillian Sheen | Great Britain | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | Q |
| 5 | Velleda Cesari | Italy | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | |
| 6 | Maria Sołtan | Poland | 1 | 4 | | 17 | |

#### Pool 2

Buller and Shitikova defeated Kalka in a three-way barrage for third and fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Karen Lachmann | Denmark | 4 | 1 | 8 | Q |
| 2 | Irene Camber-Corno | Italy | 4 | 1 | 9 | Q |
| 3 | Patricia Buller | Great Britain | 3 | 3 | 17 | Q |
| 4 | Nadezhda Shitikova | Soviet Union | 3 | 3 | 18 | Q |
| 5 | Maggie Kalka | Finland | 3 | 3 | 18 | |
| 6 | Ursula Selle | Venezuela | 2 | 4 | 24 | |
| 7 | Wanda Włodarczyk | Poland | 1 | 5 | 21 | |

#### Pool 3

Mitchell defeated Barding-Poulsen in a barrage for fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Grete Kunz | Austria | 4 | 1 | 19 | 11 | Q |
| 2 | Anna Ponomaryova | Soviet Union | 4 | 1 | 18 | 11 | Q |
| 3 | Magdolna Nyári-Kovács | Hungary | 3 | 2 | | 11 | Q |
| 4 | Maxine Mitchell | United States | 2 | 3 | | 15 | Q |
| 5 | Ulla Barding-Poulsen | Denmark | 2 | 3 | | 16 | |
| 6 | Patricia Norford | Australia | 0 | 5 | | 20 | |

#### Pool 4

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Irena Nawrocka | Poland | 3 | 1 | 7 | Q |
| 2 | Silvia Strukel | Italy | 3 | 2 | 11 | Q |
| 3 | Mary Glen-Haig | Great Britain | 3 | 2 | 13 | Q |
| 4 | Polly Craus | United States | 3 | 2 | 14 | Q |
| 5 | Hedwig Rieder | Denmark | 1 | 3 | 14 | |
| 6 | Kate Mahaut | Denmark | 1 | 4 | 17 | |

#### Pool 5

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Jan York-Romary | United States | 4 | 0 | 20 | 5 | Q |
| 2 | Ellen Müller-Preis | Austria | 3 | 1 | | 7 | Q |
| 2 | Lylian Lecomte-Guyonneau | France | 3 | 2 | | 12 | Q |
| 4 | Appolinariya Plekhanova | Soviet Union | 2 | 2 | | 12 | Q |
| 5 | Catherine Pym | Australia | 1 | 4 | | 16 | |
| 6 | Taimi Mattsson | Finland | 0 | 4 | | 16 | |

#### Pool 6

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Ilona Schachererné Elek | Hungary | 4 | 0 | 16 | 3 | Q |
| 2 | Odette Drand | France | 3 | 1 | | 6 | Q |
| 3 | Elsa Irigoyen | Argentina | 3 | 2 | | 12 | Q |
| 4 | Fritzi Wenisch-Filz | Austria | 3 | 2 | | 13 | Q |
| 5 | Gerda Muller | Venezuela | 0 | 4 | | 16 | |
| 5 | Marianne Sjöblom | Finland | 0 | 4 | | 16 | |

### Round 2

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

#### Pool 1

Garilhe and Sheen defeated Cesari in a three-way barrage for third and fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Ilona Schachererné Elek | Hungary | 5 | 0 | 20 | 8 | Q |
| 2 | Irene Camber-Corno | Italy | 4 | 1 | | 9 | Q |
| 3 | Polly Craus | United States | 2 | 3 | | 17 | Q |
| 4 | Grete Kunz | Austria | 2 | 3 | | 18 | Q |
| 5 | Nadezhda Shitikova | Soviet Union | 1 | 4 | 14 | 18 | |
| 6 | Gillian Sheen | Great Britain | 1 | 4 | 13 | 18 | |

#### Pool 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Appolinariya Plekhanova | Soviet Union | 5 | 0 | 20 | 9 | Q |
| 2 | Magdolna Nyári-Kovács | Hungary | 3 | 1 | | 9 | Q |
| 3 | Lilo Allgayer | Germany | 3 | 1 | | 11 | Q |
| 4 | Silvia Strukel | Italy | 2 | 3 | | 16 | Q |
| 5 | Odette Drand | France | 1 | 4 | | 19 | |
| 6 | Patricia Buller | Great Britain | 0 | 5 | | 20 | |

#### Pool 3

Wenisch-Filz and Lecomte-Guyonneau defeated Elek and Ponomaryova in a four-way barrage for third and fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Karen Lachmann | Denmark | 4 | 1 | 11 | Q |
| 2 | Maxine Mitchell | United States | 3 | 2 | 12 | Q |
| 3 | Fritzi Wenisch-Filz | Austria | 2 | 3 | 18 | Q |
| 4 | Lylian Lecomte-Guyonneau | France | 2 | 3 | 16 | Q |
| 5 | Margit Elek | Hungary | 2 | 3 | 13 | |
| 6 | Anna Ponomaryova | Soviet Union | 2 | 3 | 16 | |

#### Pool 4

Glen-Haig defeated Nawrocka in a barrage for fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Jan York-Romary | United States | 4 | 1 | 12 | Q |
| 1 | Renée Garilhe | France | 3 | 1 | 10 | Q |
| 3 | Ellen Müller-Preis | Austria | 3 | 2 | 16 | Q |
| 4 | Mary Glen-Haig | Great Britain | 2 | 3 | 17 | Q |
| 5 | Irena Nawrocka | Poland | 2 | 3 | 18 | |
| 6 | Elsa Irigoyen | Argentina | 0 | 4 | 16 | |

### Semifinals

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

#### Semifinal 1

Garilhe and Sheen defeated Cesari in a three-way barrage for third and fourth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Karen Lachmann | Denmark | 7 | 0 | 28 | 9 | Q |
| 2 | Lylian Lecomte-Guyonneau | France | 5 | 2 | | 18 | Q |
| 3 | Jan York-Romary | United States | 4 | 3 | | 19 | Q |
| 4 | Magdolna Nyári-Kovács | Hungary | 4 | 3 | | 21 | Q |
| 5 | Silvia Strukel | Italy | 3 | 4 | | 19 | |
| 6 | Ellen Müller-Preis | Austria | 3 | 4 | | 20 | |
| 7 | Polly Craus | United States | 1 | 6 | | 25 | |
| 8 | Grete Kunz | Austria | 1 | 6 | | 27 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Ilona Schachererné Elek | Hungary | 6 | 0 | 24 | 6 | Q |
| 2 | Renée Garilhe | France | 5 | 1 | | 9 | Q |
| 2 | Maxine Mitchell | United States | 5 | 2 | | 19 | Q |
| 4 | Irene Camber-Corno | Italy | 4 | 3 | | 18 | Q |
| 5 | Mary Glen-Haig | Great Britain | 2 | 4 | | 20 | |
| 6 | Lilo Allgayer | Germany | 2 | 5 | | 24 | |
| 7 | Fritzi Wenisch-Filz | Austria | 1 | 5 | | 20 | |
| 8 | Appolinariya Plekhanova | Soviet Union | 1 | 6 | | 27 | |

### Final

Two separate barrages were necessary. There was a four-way barrage for the bronze medal, which was won by Lachmann. The top two fencers ended in a barrage for gold and silver; Camber defeated Elek 4–3.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TR |
| | Irene Camber-Corno | Italy | 5 | 2 | 22 |
| | Ilona Schachererné Elek | Hungary | 5 | 2 | 21 |
| | Karen Lachmann | Denmark | 4 | 3 | 22 |
| 4 | Jan York-Romary | United States | 4 | 3 | 25 |
| 5 | Maxine Mitchell | United States | 4 | 3 | 23 |
| 6 | Renée Garilhe | France | 4 | 3 | 24 |
| 7 | Lylian Lecomte-Guyonneau | France | 1 | 6 | 30 |
| 8 | Magdolna Nyári-Kovács | Hungary | 1 | 6 | 32 |