# Fencing at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's épée

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. 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.
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). 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. 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 |
| 2 | 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.

#### Quarterfinal 1

Camargo defeated de Capriles and Horn in a three-way barrage for third place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Oswald Zappelli | Switzerland | 6 | 0 | Q |
| 2 | Luigi Cantone | Italy | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Roberto Camargo | Colombia | 3 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Joe de Capriles | United States | 3 | 3 | |
| 5 | Alf Horn | Canada | 3 | 3 | |
| 6 | Nils Sjöblom | Finland | 1 | 5 | |
| 7 | Andreas Skotidas | Greece | 1 | 5 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

Biancalana and Saucedo defeated de Beaumont in a three-way barrage for second and third place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Carlo Agostoni | Italy | 5 | 2 | Q |
| 2 | Mario Biancalana | Brazil | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 3 | Raúl Saucedo | Argentina | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Charles de Beaumont | Great Britain | 4 | 3 | |
| 5 | Frank Cervell | Sweden | 3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Mohamed Abdel Rahman | Egypt | 3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Roelof Hordijk | Netherlands | 2 | 4 | |
| 8 | Carlos Lamar | Cuba | 1 | 5 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Émile Gretsch | Luxembourg | 5 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Edoardo Mangiarotti | Italy | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Bengt Ljungquist | Sweden | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Antonio Villamil | Argentina | 3 | 3 | |
| 5 | Bert Pelling | Great Britain | 2 | 4 | |
| 6 | Alfred Eriksen | Norway | 2 | 4 | |
| 7 | Antonio Haro | Mexico | 1 | 5 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Norman Lewis | United States | 4 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Marcel Desprets | France | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Charles Debeur | Belgium | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Mogens Lüchow | Denmark | 2 | 3 | |
| 5 | Robert Lips | Switzerland | 1 | 2 | |
| 6 | Vito Simonetti | Argentina | 1 | 3 | |
| 7 | Imre Hennyei | Hungary | 0 | 5 | |

#### Quarterfinal 5

Lepage defeated Anen and Nielsen in a three-way barrage for third place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Mahmoud Younes | Egypt | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 2 | Jean-Marie Radoux | Belgium | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 3 | Henri Lepage | France | 3 | 3 | Q |
| 4 | Paul Anen | Luxembourg | 3 | 3 | |
| 5 | Ib Nielsen | Denmark | 3 | 3 | |
| 6 | Rodolphe Spillmann | Switzerland | 1 | 5 | |
| 6 | Pál Dunay | Hungary | 1 | 5 | |

#### Quarterfinal 6

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Henri Guérin | France | 4 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Ronald Parfitt | Great Britain | 4 | 1 | Q |
| 3 | Egill Knutzen | Norway | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Roberto Mañalich | Cuba | 3 | 3 | |
| 5 | Jean Asfar | Egypt | 2 | 3 | |
| 6 | Carl Forssell | Sweden | 2 | 4 | |
| 7 | Roland Asselin | Canada | 0 | 5 | |

### Semifinals

The top 5 finishers in each pool advanced to the final.

#### Semifinal 1

Agostoni defeated Ljungquist in a barrage for fifth place.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Norman Lewis | United States | 6 | 1 | Q |
| 2 | Jean-Marie Radoux | Belgium | 5 | 3 | Q |
| 3 | Luigi Cantone | Italy | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 4 | Henri Lepage | France | 4 | 2 | Q |
| 5 | Carlo Agostoni | Italy | 3 | 4 | Q |
| 6 | Bengt Ljungquist | Sweden | 3 | 4 | |
| 7 | Egill Knutzen | Norway | 1 | 5 | |
| 7 | Raúl Saucedo | Argentina | 1 | 6 | |
| 9 | Roberto Camargo | Colombia | 0 | 2 | DNF |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes |
| 1 | Ronald Parfitt | Great Britain | 6 | 2 | Q |
| 2 | Henri Guérin | France | 5 | 3 | Q |
| 3 | Émile Gretsch | Luxembourg | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 3 | Edoardo Mangiarotti | Italy | 4 | 3 | Q |
| 3 | Oswald Zappelli | Switzerland | 4 | 4 | Q |
| 6 | Marcel Desprets | France | 3 | 5 | |
| 7 | Mario Biancalana | Brazil | 3 | 5 | |
| 8 | Charles Debeur | Belgium | 3 | 5 | |
| 9 | Mahmoud Younes | Egypt | 1 | 7 | |

### Final

Zappelli and Mangiarotti finished tied on win–loss record, touches received, and touches scored. Rather than use the head-to-head results from the round-robin (Zappelli had defeated Mangiarotti 3–0 in their bout), they faced each other in a barrage for silver and bronze medals. Zappelli won, 3–0 again.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TS | TR |
| | Luigi Cantone | Italy | 7 | 2 | 24 | 15 |
| | Oswald Zappelli | Switzerland | 5 | 4 | 20 | 17 |
| | Edoardo Mangiarotti | Italy | 5 | 4 | 20 | 17 |
| 4 | Henri Guérin | France | 5 | 4 | 20 | 19 |
| 5 | Jean-Marie Radoux | Belgium | 5 | 4 | 19 | 20 |
| 6 | Henri Lepage | France | 4 | 5 | 19 | 20 |
| 7 | Carlo Agostoni | Italy | 4 | 5 | 22 | 21 |
| 8 | Émile Gretsch | Luxembourg | 3 | 6 | 16 | 22 |
| 9 | Norman Lewis | United States | 3 | 6 | 20 | 24 |
| 10 | Ronald Parfitt | Great Britain | 2 | 7 | 18 | 23 |