# Fencing at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's épée

The men's épée 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 9 August 1936 to 11 August 1936. 68 fencers from 26 nations competed. Nations were limited to three fencers. The event was won by Franco Riccardi of Italy, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's épée (matching Cuba and Belgium for second-most all-time among nations). Riccardi's teammates Saverio Ragno and Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici took silver and bronze, respectively, to give Italy a medal sweep—Italy's first and the fourth overall in the event (Cuba in 1904, France in 1908 and 1920). Cornaggia-Medici, who had won gold in 1932, became the fourth man to win multiple medals in the individual épée. For the first time, France competed in the event but did not win any medals (snapping a four-Games podium streak).

## Background

This was the ninth 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.
Three of the 12 finalists from the 1932 Games returned: gold medalist Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici of Italy, fourth-place finisher Saverio Ragno of Italy, and tenth-place finisher Raúl Saucedo of Argentina. Hans Drakenberg of Sweden was the reigning (1935) World Champion as well as European champion; Pál Dunay of Hungary had been World Champion in 1934.
Brazil, Poland, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the event. Belgium and the United States each appeared for the eighth time, tied for most among nations.

## Competition format

The competition format was pool play round-robin, with bouts to three touches (unlike foil and sabre, but continuing the format from 1932). The format returned to four rounds. Not all bouts were played in some pools if not necessary to determine advancement. Two points were awarded for each bout won; if both fencers scored a hit simultaneously to make the bout 3–3, each received one point for the "null match". 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).
* Round 1: 8 pools of between 7 and 10 fencers each. The top 5 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
* Quarterfinals: 4 pools of 10 fencers each. The top 5 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.
* Semifinals: 2 pools of 10 fencers each. The top 5 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.
* Final: 1 pool of 10 fencers.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Sunday, 9 August 1936 | 9:00 | Round 1 |
| Monday, 10 August 1936 | 9:00 15:00 | Quarterfinals Semifinals |
| Tuesday, 11 August 1936 | 13:00 | Final |

## Results
### Round 1

The top five finishers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.

#### Pool 1

De Beaumont is listed in 8th place and Schröder in 9th place in the official report, but Schröder had more points than de Beaumont.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Nicolae Marinescu | Romania | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 17 | Q |
| 2 | Hans Drakenberg | Sweden | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 9 | Q |
| 3 | Antonio Villamil | Argentina | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 10 | Q |
| 4 | Béla Bay | Hungary | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 13 | Q |
| 5 | Roman Kantor | Poland | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 22 | Q |
| 6 | Mahmoud Abdin | Egypt | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 21 | |
| 7 | Nicolaas van Hoorn | Netherlands | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 18 | |
| 8 | Otto Schröder | Germany | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 21 | |
| 9 | Charles de Beaumont | Great Britain | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 20 | |
| 10 | Bertrand Boissonnault | Canada | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 23 | |

#### Pool 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Henrique de Aguilar | Brazil | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 5 | Q |
| 2 | Preben Christiansen | Denmark | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 12 | Q |
| 3 | Gustaf Dyrssen | Sweden | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 10 | Q |
| 4 | Pál Dunay | Hungary | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 14 | Q |
| 5 | Khristos Zalokostas | Greece | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 11 | Q |
| 6 | Antoni Franz | Poland | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 19 | |
| 7 | Robert Bergmann | Czechoslovakia | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 17 | |
| 8 | Karl Hanisch | Austria | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 21 | |

#### Pool 3

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Hans Granfelt | Sweden | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 12 | Q |
| 2 | Hervé, Count du Monceau de Bergendael | Belgium | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 15 | Q |
| 3 | François Duret | Switzerland | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 11 | Q |
| 4 | Egill Knutzen | Norway | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 14 | Q |
| 5 | Marcel Boulad | Egypt | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 16 | Q |
| 6 | Gustave Heiss | United States | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 20 | |
| 7 | Henri Dulieux | France | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 18 | |
| 8 | František Vohryzek | Czechoslovakia | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 19 | |
| 9 | Douglas Dexter | Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 19 | |

#### Pool 4

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Raymond Stasse | Belgium | 12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 8 | Q |
| 2 | Paulo Leal | Portugal | 11 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 11 | Q |
| 3 | Ian Campbell-Gray | Great Britain | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 12 | Q |
| 4 | Saverio Ragno | Italy | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 15 | Q |
| 5 | Rezső von Bartha | Hungary | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 16 | Q |
| 6 | Josef Kunt | Czechoslovakia | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 17 | |
| 7 | Denis Dolecsko | Romania | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 16 | |
| 8 | Roman Fischer | Austria | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 21 | |
| 9 | Ernest Dalton | Canada | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 | |

#### Pool 5

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Franco Riccardi | Italy | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 8 | Q |
| 2 | Siegfried Lerdon | Germany | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 6 | Q |
| 3 | Aage Leidersdorff | Denmark | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 10 | Q |
| 4 | Cornelis Weber | Netherlands | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 8 | Q |
| 5 | Ioan Miclescu-Prăjescu | Romania | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 12 | Q |
| 6 | Ricardo Romero | Chile | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 18 | |
| 7 | Ivan Vladimir Mažuranić | Yugoslavia | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 16 | |
| 8 | Moacyr Dunham | Brazil | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 18 | |

#### Pool 6

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Antonio Haro | Mexico | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 7 | Q |
| 2 | Charles Debeur | Belgium | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 13 | Q |
| 3 | Gustavo Carinhas | Portugal | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 10 | Q |
| 4 | Tomas Barraza | Chile | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 12 | Q |
| 5 | George Tully | Canada | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 14 | Q |
| 6 | Frank Righeimer | United States | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 13 | |
| 7 | Dimitar Vasilev | Bulgaria | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 15 | |

#### Pool 7

In the three-way tie for fourth, Martínez came last to da Silveira and Guthe, with the latter two advancing.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Frédéric Fitting | Switzerland | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 12 | Q |
| 2 | Willem Driebergen | Netherlands | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 15 | Q |
| 3 | Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici | Italy | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 16 | Q |
| 4 | Henrique da Silveira | Portugal | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 14 | Q |
| 5 | Thorstein Guthe | Norway | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 17 | Q |
| 6 | José Martínez | Mexico | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 18 | |
| 7 | Ennio de Oliveira | Brazil | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 19 | |
| 8 | Mauris Shamil | Egypt | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 22 | |
| 9 | Rudolf Weber | Austria | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 23 | |

#### Pool 8

In the three-way tie for fourth, Martínez came last to da Silveira and Guthe, with the latter two advancing.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Frederick Weber | United States | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 8 | Q |
| 2 | Michel Pécheux | France | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 9 | Q |
| 3 | Jean Hauert | Switzerland | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 9 | Q |
| 4 | Erik Hammer Sørensen | Denmark | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 18 | Q |
| 5 | Raúl Saucedo | Argentina | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 13 | Q |
| 6 | Ernst Röthig | Germany | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 17 | |
| 7 | Konstantinos Bembis | Greece | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 20 | |
| 8 | Krešo Tretinjak | Yugoslavia | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 18 | |

### Quarterfinals

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

#### Quarterfinal 1

In the four-way tie for third place, Knutzen finished last in the play-off with Debeur, da Silveira, and Granfelt, with the latter three advancing.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Michel Pécheux | France | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 19 | Q |
| 2 | Charles Debeur | Belgium | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 16 | Q |
| 3 | Henrique da Silveira | Portugal | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 16 | Q |
| 4 | Hans Granfelt | Sweden | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 18 | Q |
| 5 | Jean Hauert | Switzerland | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 19 | Q |
| 6 | Egill Knutzen | Norway | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 21 | |
| 7 | Frederick Weber | United States | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 20 | |
| 8 | George Tully | Canada | 6 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 21 | |
| 9 | Pál Dunay | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 26 | |
| 10 | Aage Leidersdorff | Denmark | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 21 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

Campbell-Gray defeated Miclescu-Prăjescu in a play-off bout to break to the tie for fifth and last advancement spot. The official report lists Weber 9th and Duret 8th, though the scoring system would put Weber in 8th with fewer touches received.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Hans Drakenberg | Sweden | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 13 | Q |
| 2 | Roman Kantor | Poland | 14 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 12 | Q |
| 3 | Raymond Stasse | Belgium | 14 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 15 | Q |
| 4 | Saverio Ragno | Italy | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 12 | Q |
| 5 | Ian Campbell-Gray | Great Britain | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 18 | Q |
| 6 | Ioan Miclescu-Prăjescu | Romania | 8 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 21 | |
| 7 | Preben Christiansen | Denmark | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 21 | |
| 8 | Cornelis Weber | Netherlands | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 22 | |
| 9 | François Duret | Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 26 | |
| 10 | Thorstein Guthe | Norway | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 23 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

It is unclear why Villamil did not face Barraza, Driebergen did not face Leal, and Boulad did not face Bay. In general, bouts unnecessary to advancement were not played, but each of the three men eliminated in 6th through 8th place were within 2 points of the 5th-place finisher Zalokostas and could have caught him with an additional win (or even tie for Villamil), though Zalokostas himself had an unplayed bout against Hammer Sørensen and could have added to his point total.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Franco Riccardi | Italy | 12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 9 | Q |
| 2 | Béla Bay | Hungary | 11 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 14 | Q |
| 3 | Paulo Leal | Portugal | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 11 | Q |
| 4 | Frédéric Fitting | Switzerland | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 13 | Q |
| 5 | Khristos Zalokostas | Greece | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 19 | Q |
| 6 | Antonio Villamil | Argentina | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 17 | |
| 7 | Willem Driebergen | Netherlands | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 16 | |
| 8 | Marcel Boulad | Egypt | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 21 | |
| 9 | Erik Hammer Sørensen | Denmark | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 19 | |
| 10 | Tomas Barraza | Chile | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Antonio Haro | Mexico | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 11 | Q |
| 2 | Siegfried Lerdon | Germany | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 9 | Q |
| 3 | Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici | Italy | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 14 | Q |
| 4 | Henrique de Aguilar | Brazil | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 14 | Q |
| 5 | Hervé, Count du Monceau de Bergendael | Belgium | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 20 | Q |
| 6 | Raúl Saucedo | Argentina | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 19 | |
| 6 | Gustavo Carinhas | Portugal | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 19 | |
| 6 | Rezső von Bartha | Hungary | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 19 | |
| 9 | Nicolae Marinescu | Romania | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 21 | |
| 10 | Gustaf Dyrssen | Sweden | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 19 | |

### Semifinals

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

#### Semifinal 1

In the four-way tie for third place, Pécheux finished last in the play-off with Debeur, Zalokostas, and Cornaggia-Medici, with the latter three advancing.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Ian Campbell-Gray | Great Britain | 18 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 9 | Q |
| 2 | Saverio Ragno | Italy | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 20 | Q |
| 3 | Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici | Italy | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 13 | Q |
| 4 | Khristos Zalokostas | Greece | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 19 | Q |
| 5 | Charles Debeur | Belgium | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 22 | Q |
| 6 | Michel Pécheux | France | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 19 | |
| 7 | Hans Granfelt | Sweden | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 21 | |
| 8 | Antonio Haro | Mexico | 5 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 24 | |
| 9 | Paulo Leal | Portugal | 5 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 25 | |
| 10 | Jean Hauert | Switzerland | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 15 | 26 | |

#### Semifinal 2

In the four-way tie for fifth place, Drakenberg won the play-off pool against Kantor, Fitting, and Lerdon.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR | Notes |
| 1 | Raymond Stasse | Belgium | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 13 | Q |
| 2 | Franco Riccardi | Italy | 13 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 13 | Q |
| 3 | Henrique da Silveira | Portugal | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 11 | Q |
| 4 | Béla Bay | Hungary | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 16 | Q |
| 5 | Hans Drakenberg | Sweden | 8 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 22 | Q |
| 6 | Roman Kantor | Poland | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 22 | |
| 7 | Frédéric Fitting | Switzerland | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 23 | |
| 7 | Siegfried Lerdon | Germany | 8 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 23 | |
| 9 | Hervé, Count du Monceau de Bergendael | Belgium | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 22 | |
| 10 | Henrique de Aguilar | Brazil | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 25 | |

### Final

The Italian fencers swept the medals. Ties in the final were broken by touches received, including Ragno taking silver to Cornaggia-Medici's bronze by a touches received score of 15–16 (Ragno had beaten Cornaggia-Medici head-to-head in the final after losing to him in the semifinal). Riccardi beat both of his countrymen in their bouts, ultimately taking gold with 1 point more than either despite winning 1 fewer bout due to his 3 ties.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Points | Wins | Losses | Ties | TS | TR |
| | Franco Riccardi | Italy | 13 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 18 |
| | Saverio Ragno | Italy | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 15 |
| | Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici | Italy | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 16 |
| 4 | Hans Drakenberg | Sweden | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 20 |
| 5 | Charles Debeur | Belgium | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 21 |
| 6 | Henrique da Silveira | Portugal | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 19 |
| 7 | Raymond Stasse | Belgium | 8 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 21 |
| 8 | Ian Campbell-Gray | Great Britain | 8 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 24 |
| 9 | Béla Bay | Hungary | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 22 |
| 10 | Khristos Zalokostas | Greece | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 26 |