# Fencing at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's sabre

The men's sabre was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1980 Summer Olympics programme. It was the nineteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 24 to 25 July 1980. 30 fencers from 12 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by defending champion Viktor Krovopuskov of the Soviet Union, the nation's third consecutive victory in the event (a streak that would be broken by the Soviet-led boycott four years later). Krovopuskov was the third man to successfully defend a sabre title and the 10th man to win two medals of any color in the event. His teammate Mikhail Burtsev took silver. Imre Gedővári's bronze medal returned Hungary to the podium after a one-Games absence broke an eleven-Games streak.

## Background

This was the 19th appearance of the event, which is the only fencing event to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Five of the six finalists from 1976 returned: gold medalist Viktor Krovopuskov of the Soviet Union, silver medalist (and 1972 bronze medalist) Vladimir Nazlymov of the Soviet Union, fourth-place finisher Ioan Pop of Romania, fifth-place finisher Mario Aldo Montano of Italy, and sixth-place finisher Michele Maffei of Italy. Bronze medalist (and 1972 gold medalist) Viktor Sidyak's place on the Soviet team had been filled by Mikhail Burtsev. The three world championships since the last Games had been won by Hungarian Pál Gerevich (1977) and Soviets Krovopuskov (1978) and Nazlymov (1979), the latter of whom had also won in 1975. The American-led boycott had little effect on the top of the favorites list, with the Soviet Union dominating, other Eastern Bloc countries such as Hungary, Poland, Romania being perpetually strong (with Bulgarian twins Vasil Etropolski and Khristo Etropolski making a case to add that nation), and the strongest Western nation in the event (Italy) participating under the Olympic flag in partial support for the boycott. Indeed, the only nation that had ever won a men's sabre medal to boycott the 1980 Games was the United States—which had taken silver in St. Louis 1904.
Kuwait and East Germany each made their debut in the men's sabre. Italy made its 17th appearance in the event, most of any nation, having missed the inaugural 1896 event and the 1904 Olympics.

## Competition format

The 1980 tournament continued to use a mix of pool and knockout rounds. The competition included two pool rounds, followed by a double-elimination knockout round, finishing with a final pool round. In each pool round, the fencers competed in a round-robin.
Bouts in the round-robin pools were to 5 touches; bouts in the double-elimination round were to 10 touches. Repechages were not used in the first two rounds, but were used to determine medalists if necessary in the final.

## Schedule

All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Thursday, 24 July 1980 | | Round 1 Round 2 |
| Friday, 25 July 1980 | | Elimination rounds Final |

## Results
### Round 1
#### Round 1 Pool A

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | IG | VE | JL | LJ | VP |
| 1 | Imre Gedővári (HUN) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 12 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–2 | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| 2 | Vasil Etropolski (BUL) | 2 | 2 | 18 | 16 | Q | 4–5 | | 4–5 | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| 3 | José Laverdecia (CUB) | 2 | 2 | 16 | 18 | Q | 2–5 | 5–4 | | 5–4 | 4–5 |
| 4 | Leszek Jabłonowski (POL) | 1 | 3 | 15 | 19 | Q | 3–5 | 3–5 | 4–5 | | 5–4 |
| 5 | Valentín Paraíso (ESP) | 1 | 3 | 15 | 19 | | 3–5 | 3–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool B

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | VN | JO | JFL | MS | RM |
| 1 | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | 3 | 1 | 19 | 12 | Q | | 4–5 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 5–1 |
| 2 | Jesús Ortiz (CUB) | 3 | 1 | 16 | 14 | Q | 5–4 | | 1–5 | 5–1 | 5–4 |
| 3 | Jean-François Lamour (FRA) | 2 | 2 | 16 | 13 | Q | 3–5 | 5–1 | | 3–5 | 5–2 |
| 4 | Mark Slade (GBR) | 2 | 2 | 14 | 17 | Q | 3–5 | 1–5 | 5–3 | | 5–4 |
| 5 | Rüdiger Müller (GDR) | 0 | 4 | 11 | 20 | | 1–5 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 4–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool C

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | GN | FEH | MM | GC | MO |
| 1 | György Nébald (HUN) | 3 | 1 | 15 | 16 | Q | | 0–5 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–3 |
| 2 | Frank-Eberhard Höltje (GDR) | 2 | 2 | 16 | 13 | Q | 5–0 | | 5–3 | 3–5 | 3–5 |
| 3 | Michele Maffei (ITA) | 2 | 2 | 17 | 14 | Q | 4–5 | 3–5 | | 5–1 | 5–3 |
| 4 | Georgi Chomakov (BUL) | 2 | 2 | 15 | 17 | Q | 4–5 | 5–3 | 1–5 | | 5–4 |
| 5 | Manuel Ortiz (CUB) | 1 | 3 | 15 | 18 | | 3–5 | 5–3 | 3–5 | 4–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool D

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | KE | IP | VK | AK | AAA |
| 1 | Khristo Etropolski (BUL) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 8 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–3 | 5–0 | 5–1 |
| 2 | Ioan Pop (ROU) | 2 | 2 | 16 | 12 | Q | 4–5 | | 5–2 | 2–5 | 5–0 |
| 3 | Viktor Krovopuskov (URS) | 2 | 2 | 15 | 12 | Q | 3–5 | 2–5 | | 5–0 | 5–2 |
| 4 | Andrzej Kostrzewa (POL) | 2 | 2 | 10 | 12 | Q | 0–5 | 5–2 | 0–5 | | 5–0 |
| 5 | Ahmed Al-Ahmed (KUW) | 0 | 4 | 3 | 20 | | 1–5 | 0–5 | 2–5 | 0–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool E

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | MAM | PU | CM | MB | ME |
| 1 | Mario Aldo Montano (ITA) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 12 | Q | | 5–3 | 5–4 | 3–5 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Peter Ulbrich (GDR) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 13 | Q | 3–5 | | 5–3 | 5–4 | 5–1 |
| 3 | Cornel Marin (ROU) | 2 | 2 | 17 | 13 | Q | 4–5 | 3–5 | | 5–3 | 5–0 |
| 4 | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | 2 | 2 | 17 | 14 | Q | 5–3 | 4–5 | 3–5 | | 5–1 |
| 5 | Mohamed Eyiad (KUW) | 0 | 4 | 2 | 20 | | 0–5 | 1–5 | 0–5 | 1–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool F

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | JB | FM | PG | MM | AAK |
| 1 | Jacek Bierkowski (POL) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 10 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | 3 | 1 | 19 | 11 | Q | 4–5 | | 5–4 | 5–2 | 5–0 |
| 3 | Pál Gerevich (HUN) | 2 | 2 | 16 | 13 | Q | 2–5 | 4–5 | | 5–2 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Marin Mustață (ROU) | 1 | 3 | 11 | 15 | Q | 2–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | | 5–0 |
| 5 | Ali Al-Khawajah (KUW) | 0 | 4 | 3 | 20 | | 2–5 | 0–5 | 1–5 | 0–5 | |

### Round 2
#### Round 2 Pool A

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | MMa | MB | GN | KE | JO | MMu |
| 1 | Michele Maffei (ITA) | 5 | 0 | 25 | 15 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–3 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 13 | Q | 4–5 | | 5–1 | 5–2 | 5–3 | 5–2 |
| 3 | György Nébald (HUN) | 3 | 2 | 19 | 18 | Q | 3–5 | 1–5 | | 5–2 | 5–4 | 5–2 |
| 4 | Khristo Etropolski (BUL) | 1 | 4 | 17 | 22 | Q | 4–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | | 4–5 | 5–2 |
| 5 | Jesús Ortiz (CUB) | 1 | 4 | 18 | 24 | | 2–5 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 5–4 | | 4–5 |
| 6 | Marin Mustață (ROU) | 1 | 4 | 13 | 24 | | 2–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | 5–4 | |

#### Round 2 Pool B

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | JB | VE | PG | IP | LJ | PU |
| 1 | Jacek Bierkowski (POL) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 14 | Q | | 5–2 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 5–2 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Vasil Etropolski (BUL) | 3 | 2 | 18 | 15 | Q | 2–5 | | 1–5 | 5–1 | 5–2 | 5–2 |
| 3 | Pál Gerevich (HUN) | 3 | 2 | 19 | 16 | Q | 3–5 | 5–1 | | 1–5 | 5–4 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Ioan Pop (ROU) | 3 | 2 | 18 | 19 | Q | 5–4 | 1–5 | 5–1 | | 2–5 | 5–4 |
| 5 | Leszek Jabłonowski (POL) | 2 | 3 | 18 | 20 | | 2–5 | 2–5 | 4–5 | 5–2 | | 5–3 |
| 6 | Peter Ulbrich (GDR) | 0 | 5 | 12 | 25 | | 2–5 | 2–5 | 1–5 | 4–5 | 3–5 | |

#### Round 2 Pool C

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | VK | IG | CM | AK | MAM | MS |
| 1 | Viktor Krovopuskov (URS) | 5 | 0 | 25 | 15 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–1 | 5–2 | 5–4 | 5–4 |
| 2 | Imre Gedővári (HUN) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 16 | Q | 4–5 | | 5–1 | 5–4 | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| 3 | Cornel Marin (ROU) | 3 | 2 | 17 | 16 | Q | 1–5 | 1–5 | | 5–2 | 5–3 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Andrzej Kostrzewa (POL) | 2 | 3 | 18 | 20 | Q | 2–5 | 4–5 | 2–5 | | 5–4 | 5–1 |
| 5 | Mario Aldo Montano (ITA) | 1 | 4 | 19 | 20 | | 4–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 4–5 | | 5–0 |
| 6 | Mark Slade (GBR) | 0 | 5 | 9 | 25 | | 4–5 | 3–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 0–5 | |

#### Round 2 Pool D

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | VN | JL | FM | GC | FEH | JFL |
| 1 | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | 5 | 0 | 25 | 19 | Q | | 5–3 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–4 |
| 2 | José Laverdecia (CUB) | 3 | 2 | 22 | 18 | Q | 3–5 | | 5–3 | 5–2 | 4–5 | 5–3 |
| 3 | Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | 2 | 3 | 19 | 18 | Q | 4–5 | 3–5 | | 2–5 | 5–3 | 5–0 |
| 4 | Georgi Chomakov (BUL) | 2 | 3 | 20 | 20 | Q | 4–5 | 2–5 | 5–2 | | 5–3 | 4–5 |
| 5 | Frank-Eberhard Höltje (GDR) | 2 | 3 | 20 | 23 | | 4–5 | 5–4 | 3–5 | 3–5 | | 5–4 |
| 6 | Jean-François Lamour (FRA) | 1 | 4 | 16 | 24 | | 4–5 | 3–5 | 0–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | |

### Double elimination rounds
#### Winners brackets
##### Winners group 1

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Andrzej Kostrzewa (POL) | Andrzej Kostrzewa (POL) | W | | | |
| Jacek Bierkowski (POL) | Jacek Bierkowski (POL) | L | Andrzej Kostrzewa (POL) | Andrzej Kostrzewa (POL) | L |
| Khristo Etropolski (BUL) | Khristo Etropolski (BUL) | W | Khristo Etropolski (BUL) | Khristo Etropolski (BUL) | W |
| Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | L | | | |

##### Winners group 2

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Pál Gerevich (HUN) | Pál Gerevich (HUN) | W | | | |
| Michele Maffei (ITA) | Michele Maffei (ITA) | L | Pál Gerevich (HUN) | Pál Gerevich (HUN) | L |
| Viktor Krovopuskov (URS) | Viktor Krovopuskov (URS) | 10 | Viktor Krovopuskov (URS) | Viktor Krovopuskov (URS) | W |
| Ioan Pop (ROU) | Ioan Pop (ROU) | 9 | | | |

##### Winners group 3

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | W | | | |
| José Laverdecia (CUB) | José Laverdecia (CUB) | L | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | L |
| Vasil Etropolski (BUL) | Vasil Etropolski (BUL) | W | Vasil Etropolski (BUL) | Vasil Etropolski (BUL) | W |
| György Nébald (HUN) | György Nébald (HUN) | L | | | |

##### Winners group 4

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | W | | | |
| Cornel Marin (ROU) | Cornel Marin (ROU) | L | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | L |
| Imre Gedővári (HUN) | Imre Gedővári (HUN) | W | Imre Gedővári (HUN) | Imre Gedővári (HUN) | W |
| Georgi Chomakov (BUL) | Georgi Chomakov (BUL) | L | | | |

#### Losers brackets
##### Losers group 1

| Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 2 | Round of 2 | Round of 2 |
| Jacek Bierkowski (POL) | Jacek Bierkowski (POL) | L | | | | | | |
| Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | W | Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | W | | | |
| | | | Pál Gerevich (HUN) | Pál Gerevich (HUN) | L | | | |
| | | | | | | Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) | L |
| José Laverdecia (CUB) | José Laverdecia (CUB) | W | | | | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | W |
| György Nébald (HUN) | György Nébald (HUN) | L | José Laverdecia (CUB) | José Laverdecia (CUB) | L | | | |
| | | | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | W | | | |

##### Losers group 2

| Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 4 | Round of 2 | Round of 2 | Round of 2 |
| Michele Maffei (ITA) | Michele Maffei (ITA) | W | | | | | | |
| Ioan Pop (ROU) | Ioan Pop (ROU) | L | Michele Maffei (ITA) | Michele Maffei (ITA) | W | | | |
| | | | Andrzej Kostrzewa (POL) | Andrzej Kostrzewa (POL) | L | | | |
| | | | | | | Michele Maffei (ITA) | Michele Maffei (ITA) | W |
| Cornel Marin (ROU) | Cornel Marin (ROU) | W | | | | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | L |
| Georgi Chomakov (BUL) | Georgi Chomakov (BUL) | L | Cornel Marin (ROU) | Cornel Marin (ROU) | L | | | |
| | | | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | Vladimir Nazlymov (URS) | W | | | |

### Final round

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | VK | MB | IG | VE | KE | MM |
| 1 | Viktor Krovopuskov (URS) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 17 | B | | 4–5 | 5–4 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 5–2 |
| 1 | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | 4 | 1 | 23 | 18 | B | 5–4 | | 3–5 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| | Imre Gedővári (HUN) | 3 | 2 | 23 | 21 | | 4–5 | 5–3 | | 4–5 | 5–4 | 5–4 |
| 4 | Vasil Etropolski (BUL) | 2 | 3 | 17 | 23 | | 3–5 | 3–5 | 5–4 | | 5–4 | 1–5 |
| 5 | Khristo Etropolski (BUL) | 1 | 4 | 19 | 21 | | 3–5 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 4–5 | | 5–1 |
| 6 | Michele Maffei (ITA) | 1 | 4 | 15 | 21 | | 2–5 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 5–1 | 1–5 | |

#### Barrage

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | VK | MB |
| | Viktor Krovopuskov (URS) | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | | 5–3 |
| | Mikhail Burtsev (URS) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3–5 | |

## Final classification

| Fencer | Nation |
| Viktor Krovopuskov | Soviet Union |
| Mikhail Burtsev | Soviet Union |
| Imre Gedővári | Hungary |
| Vasil Etropolski | Bulgaria |
| Khristo Etropolski | Bulgaria |
| Michele Maffei | Italy |
| Ferdinando Meglio | Italy |
| Vladimir Nazlymov | Soviet Union |
| Cornel Marin | Romania |
| Pál Gerevich | Hungary |
| Andrzej Kostrzewa | Poland |
| José Laverdecia | Cuba |
| Jacek Bierkowski | Poland |
| Ioan Pop | Romania |
| György Nébald | Hungary |
| Georgi Chomakov | Bulgaria |
| Leszek Jabłonowski | Poland |
| Frank-Eberhard Höltje | East Germany |
| Mario Aldo Montano | Italy |
| Jesús Ortiz | Cuba |
| Jean-François Lamour | France |
| Marin Mustață | Romania |
| Peter Ulbrich | East Germany |
| Mark Slade | Great Britain |
| Manuel Ortiz | Cuba |
| Valentín Paraíso | Spain |
| Rüdiger Müller | East Germany |
| Ahmed Al-Ahmed | Kuwait |
| Ali Al-Khawajah | Kuwait |
| Mohamed Eyiad | Kuwait |