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

The men's foil was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1980 Summer Olympics programme. It was the eighteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 22 to 23 July 1980. 37 fencers from 16 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Vladimir Smirnov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first victory in the men's foil since 1960 and second overall. His countryman Alexandr Romankov took bronze, becoming the eighth man to win multiple medals in the event. It was the first time in five Games that France did not receive the bronze medal—though Pascal Jolyot earned silver instead.

## Background

This was the 18th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1908 (when there was a foil display only rather than a medal event). Three of the six finalists from 1976 returned: silver medalist Aleksandr Romankov of the Soviet Union, fifth-place finisher Frédéric Pietruszka of France, and sixth-place finisher Greg Benko of Australia. The American-led boycott had little effect on the favorites, with top foil fencing nations France, Italy, the Soviet Union, Romania, and Hungary all competing. Romankov was the favorite, having won the 1974, 1977, and 1979 world championships. France presented the strongest challengers to him, with Didier Flament, the 1978 world champion, and Pascal Jolyot, the 1979 world runner-up.
Algeria made its debut in the men's foil. France made its 16th appearance, matching the United States for most of any nation; France had missed only the 1904 (with fencers not traveling to St. Louis) and the 1912 (boycotted due to a dispute over rules) foil competitions.

## 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 |
| Tuesday, 22 July 1980 | | Round 1 Round 2 |
| Wednesday, 23 July 1980 | | Elimination rounds Final |

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

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | AR | VS | IS | TH | DH |
| 1 | Adam Robak (POL) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 13 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| 2 | Volodymyr Smyrnov (URS) | 3 | 1 | 19 | 11 | Q | 4–5 | | 5–3 | 5–2 | 5–1 |
| 3 | István Szelei (HUN) | 2 | 2 | 16 | 15 | Q | 3–5 | 3–5 | | 5–3 | 5–2 |
| 4 | Tahar Hamou (ALG) | 1 | 3 | 13 | 17 | | 3–5 | 2–5 | 3–5 | | 5–2 |
| 5 | Dany Haddad (LIB) | 0 | 4 | 8 | 20 | | 3–5 | 1–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool B

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | GB | RB | AR | JE | HH |
| 1 | Greg Benko (AUS) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 11 | Q | | 5–3 | 3–5 | 5–3 | 5–0 |
| 1 | Rob Bruniges (GBR) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 11 | Q | 3–5 | | 5–3 | 5–3 | 5–0 |
| 3 | Aleksandr Romankov (URS) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 12 | Q | 5–3 | 3–5 | | 5–3 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Jesús Esperanza (ESP) | 1 | 3 | 14 | 19 | | 3–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | | 5–4 |
| 5 | Hassan Hamze (LIB) | 0 | 4 | 5 | 20 | | 0–5 | 0–5 | 1–5 | 4–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool C

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | DF | KK | SG | FK | KAM |
| 1 | Didier Flament (FRA) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 9 | Q | | 5–3 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Klaus Kotzmann (GDR) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 14 | Q | 3–5 | | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–1 |
| 3 | Stéphane Ganeff (BEL) | 2 | 2 | 17 | 14 | Q | 3–5 | 4–5 | | 5–1 | 5–3 |
| 4 | František Koukal (TCH) | 1 | 3 | 13 | 18 | | 3–5 | 4–5 | 1–5 | | 5–3 |
| 5 | Kifah Al-Mutawa (KUW) | 0 | 4 | 7 | 20 | | 0–5 | 1–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool D

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | PJ | TS | MR | MT | KAA |
| 1 | Pascal Jolyot (FRA) | 3 | 1 | 15 | 9 | Q | | 0–5 | 5–3 | 5–1 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Thierry Soumagne (BEL) | 2 | 2 | 18 | 11 | Q | 5–0 | | 4–5 | 4–5 | 5–1 |
| 3 | Miguel Roca (ESP) | 2 | 2 | 15 | 15 | Q | 3–5 | 5–4 | | 2–5 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Mihai Țiu (ROU) | 2 | 2 | 15 | 16 | | 1–5 | 5–4 | 5–2 | | 4–5 |
| 5 | Khaled Al-Awadhi (KUW) | 1 | 3 | 7 | 19 | | 0–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 5–4 | |

#### Round 1 Pool E

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | PK | BZ | HB | EF | AAA |
| 1 | Petru Kuki (ROU) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 8 | Q | | 5–2 | 5–1 | 5–3 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Bogusław Zych (POL) | 3 | 1 | 17 | 13 | Q | 2–5 | | 5–2 | 5–4 | 5–2 |
| 3 | Hartmuth Behrens (GDR) | 2 | 2 | 13 | 12 | Q | 1–5 | 2–5 | | 5–2 | 5–0 |
| 4 | Efigenio Favier (CUB) | 1 | 3 | 14 | 15 | | 3–5 | 4–5 | 2–5 | | 5–0 |
| 5 | Ahmed Al-Ahmed (KUW) | 0 | 4 | 4 | 20 | | 2–5 | 2–5 | 0–5 | 0–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool F

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | KH | LK | PH | GB |
| 1 | Klaus Haertter (GDR) | 3 | 0 | 15 | 8 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | Q | 4–5 | | 5–1 | 5–2 |
| 3 | Pierre Harper (GBR) | 1 | 2 | 10 | 13 | Q | 4–5 | 1–5 | | 5–3 |
| 4 | Guillermo Betancourt (CUB) | 0 | 3 | 5 | 15 | | 0–5 | 2–5 | 3–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool G

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | FP | SR | PH | AP |
| 1 | Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | 3 | 0 | 15 | 10 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| 2 | Sabirzhan Ruziyev (URS) | 1 | 2 | 13 | 10 | Q | 4–5 | | 4–5 | 5–0 |
| 3 | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | 1 | 2 | 11 | 14 | Q | 3–5 | 5–4 | | 3–5 |
| 4 | András Papp (HUN) | 1 | 2 | 8 | 13 | | 3–5 | 0–5 | 5–3 | |

#### Round 1 Pool H

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | LD | FC | HG | TP |
| 1 | László Demény (HUN) | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 | Q | | 5–2 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| 2 | Federico Cervi (ITA) | 2 | 1 | 12 | 8 | Q | 2–5 | | 5–3 | 5–0 |
| 3 | Heriberto González (CUB) | 1 | 2 | 9 | 10 | Q | 1–5 | 3–5 | | 5–0 |
| 4 | Tudor Petruș (ROU) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 15 | | 1–5 | 0–5 | 0–5 | |

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

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | PK | JJ | HB | GB | RB | TS |
| 1 | Petru Kuki (ROU) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 16 | Q | | 5–3 | 4–5 | 5–3 | 5–1 | 5–4 |
| 2 | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | 3 | 2 | 20 | 17 | Q | 3–5 | | 2–5 | 5–4 | 5–0 | 5–3 |
| 3 | Hartmuth Behrens (GDR) | 3 | 2 | 18 | 18 | Q | 5–4 | 5–2 | | 2–5 | 1–5 | 5–2 |
| 4 | Greg Benko (AUS) | 2 | 3 | 19 | 18 | Q | 3–5 | 4–5 | 5–2 | | 2–5 | 5–1 |
| 5 | Rob Bruniges (GBR) | 2 | 3 | 11 | 18 | | 1–5 | 0–5 | 5–1 | 5–2 | | 0–5 |
| 6 | Thierry Soumagne (BEL) | 1 | 4 | 15 | 20 | | 4–5 | 3–5 | 2–5 | 1–5 | 5–0 | |

#### Round 2 Pool B

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | AR | LK | FP | PH | SG | LD |
| 1 | Aleksandr Romankov (URS) | 4 | 1 | 23 | 15 | Q | | 3–5 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 5–4 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | 4 | 1 | 22 | 16 | Q | 5–3 | | 2–5 | 5–4 | 5–1 | 5–3 |
| 3 | Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | 3 | 2 | 21 | 18 | Q | 2–5 | 5–2 | | 5–3 | 4–5 | 5–3 |
| 4 | Pierre Harper (GBR) | 2 | 3 | 19 | 21 | Q | 2–5 | 4–5 | 3–5 | | 5–2 | 5–4 |
| 5 | Stéphane Ganeff (BEL) | 2 | 3 | 17 | 22 | | 4–5 | 1–5 | 5–4 | 2–5 | | 5–3 |
| 6 | László Demény (HUN) | 0 | 5 | 15 | 25 | | 2–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 3–5 | |

#### Round 2 Pool C

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | VS | IS | KK | BZ | HG | DF |
| 1 | Volodymyr Smyrnov (URS) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 13 | Q | | 5–1 | 4–5 | 5–3 | 5–4 | 5–0 |
| 2 | István Szelei (HUN) | 3 | 2 | 20 | 14 | Q | 1–5 | | 5–2 | 5–2 | 4–5 | 5–0 |
| 3 | Klaus Kotzmann (GDR) | 3 | 2 | 18 | 21 | Q | 5–4 | 2–5 | | 5–4 | 5–3 | 1–5 |
| 4 | Bogusław Zych (POL) | 2 | 3 | 19 | 21 | Q | 3–5 | 2–5 | 4–5 | | 5–4 | 5–2 |
| 5 | Heriberto González (CUB) | 2 | 3 | 21 | 23 | | 4–5 | 5–4 | 3–5 | 4–5 | | 5–4 |
| 6 | Didier Flament (FRA) | 1 | 4 | 11 | 21 | | 0–5 | 0–5 | 5–1 | 2–5 | 4–5 | |

#### Round 2 Pool D

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | AR | SR | PJ | KH | FC | MR |
| 1 | Adam Robak (POL) | 4 | 1 | 21 | 12 | Q | | 5–3 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Sabirzhan Ruziyev (URS) | 3 | 2 | 22 | 13 | Q | 3–5 | | 4–5 | 5–0 | 5–2 | 5–1 |
| 3 | Pascal Jolyot (FRA) | 3 | 2 | 19 | 18 | Q | 1–5 | 5–4 | | 5–1 | 5–3 | 3–5 |
| 4 | Klaus Haertter (GDR) | 3 | 2 | 16 | 18 | Q | 5–1 | 0–5 | 1–5 | | 5–3 | 5–4 |
| 5 | Federico Cervi (ITA) | 1 | 4 | 14 | 22 | | 1–5 | 2–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | | 5–2 |
| 6 | Miguel Roca (ESP) | 1 | 4 | 14 | 23 | | 2–5 | 1–5 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 2–5 | |

### 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 |
| Petru Kuki (ROU) | Petru Kuki (ROU) | W | | | |
| Pierre Harper (GBR) | Pierre Harper (GBR) | L | Petru Kuki (ROU) | Petru Kuki (ROU) | L |
| Pascal Jolyot (FRA) | Pascal Jolyot (FRA) | W | Pascal Jolyot (FRA) | Pascal Jolyot (FRA) | W |
| Klaus Kotzmann (GDR) | Klaus Kotzmann (GDR) | L | | | |

##### Winners group 2

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Lech Koziejowski (POL) | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | W | | | |
| Hartmuth Behrens (GDR) | Hartmuth Behrens (GDR) | L | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | L |
| Aleksandr Romankov (URS) | Aleksandr Romankov (URS) | W | Aleksandr Romankov (URS) | Aleksandr Romankov (URS) | W |
| Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | L | | | |

##### Winners group 3

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Volodymyr Smyrnov (URS) | Volodymyr Smyrnov (URS) | W | | | |
| Bogusław Zych (POL) | Bogusław Zych (POL) | L | Volodymyr Smyrnov (URS) | Volodymyr Smyrnov (URS) | W |
| István Szelei (HUN) | István Szelei (HUN) | W | István Szelei (HUN) | István Szelei (HUN) | L |
| Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | L | | | |

##### Winners group 4

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Greg Benko (AUS) | Greg Benko (AUS) | W | | | |
| Klaus Haertter (GDR) | Klaus Haertter (GDR) | L | Greg Benko (AUS) | Greg Benko (AUS) | L |
| Sabirzhan Ruziyev (URS) | Sabirzhan Ruziyev (URS) | W | Sabirzhan Ruziyev (URS) | Sabirzhan Ruziyev (URS) | W |
| Adam Robak (POL) | Adam Robak (POL) | 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 |
| Hartmuth Behrens (GDR) | Hartmuth Behrens (GDR) | W | | | | | | |
| Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | L | Hartmuth Behrens (GDR) | Hartmuth Behrens (GDR) | L | | | |
| | | | Petru Kuki (ROU) | Petru Kuki (ROU) | W | | | |
| | | | | | | Petru Kuki (ROU) | Petru Kuki (ROU) | W |
| Klaus Haertter (GDR) | Klaus Haertter (GDR) | L | | | | István Szelei (HUN) | István Szelei (HUN) | L |
| Adam Robak (POL) | Adam Robak (POL) | W | Adam Robak (POL) | Adam Robak (POL) | L | | | |
| | | | István Szelei (HUN) | István Szelei (HUN) | 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 |
| Pierre Harper (GBR) | Pierre Harper (GBR) | L | | | | | | |
| Klaus Kotzmann (GDR) | Klaus Kotzmann (GDR) | W | Klaus Kotzmann (GDR) | Klaus Kotzmann (GDR) | L | | | |
| | | | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | W | | | |
| | | | | | | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | W |
| Bogusław Zych (POL) | Bogusław Zych (POL) | L | | | | Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | L |
| Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | W | Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA) | W | | | |
| | | | Greg Benko (AUS) | Greg Benko (AUS) | L | | | |

### Final round

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Qual. | VS | PJ | AR | SR | LK | PK |
| 1 | Volodymyr Smyrnov (URS) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 16 | B | | 4–5 | 5–2 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 5–3 |
| 1 | Pascal Jolyot (FRA) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 17 | B | 5–4 | | 4–5 | 5–3 | 5–4 | 5–1 |
| 1 | Aleksandr Romankov (URS) | 4 | 1 | 22 | 15 | B | 2–5 | 5–4 | | 5–3 | 5–2 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Sabirzhan Ruziyev (URS) | 2 | 3 | 20 | 19 | | 4–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | | 5–2 | 5–2 |
| 5 | Lech Koziejowski (POL) | 1 | 4 | 15 | 21 | | 2–5 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | | 5–1 |
| 6 | Petru Kuki (ROU) | 0 | 5 | 8 | 25 | | 3–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 2–5 | 1–5 | |

#### Barrage

| Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | VS | PJ | AR |
| Volodymyr Smyrnov (URS) | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | | 5–0 | 4–5 |
| Pascal Jolyot (FRA) | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0–5 | | 5–0 |
| Aleksandr Romankov (URS) | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 5–4 | 0–5 | |

## Final classification

| Fencer | Country |
| Volodymyr Smyrnov | Soviet Union |
| Pascal Jolyot | France |
| Aleksandr Romankov | Soviet Union |
| Sabirzhan Ruziyev | Soviet Union |
| Lech Koziejowski | Poland |
| Petru Kuki | Romania |
| István Szelei | Hungary |
| Frédéric Pietruszka | France |
| Hartmuth Behrens | East Germany |
| Adam Robak | Poland |
| Greg Benko | Australia |
| Klaus Kotzmann | East Germany |
| Pierre Harper | Great Britain |
| Jaroslav Jurka | Czechoslovakia |
| Bogusław Zych | Poland |
| Klaus Haertter | East Germany |
| Heriberto González | Cuba |
| Stéphane Ganeff | Belgium |
| Rob Bruniges | Great Britain |
| Thierry Soumagne | Belgium |
| Federico Cervi | Italy |
| Miguel Roca | Spain |
| Didier Flament | France |
| László Demény | Hungary |
| Mihai Țiu | Romania |
| András Papp | Hungary |
| Efigenio Favier | Cuba |
| Tahar Hamou | Algeria |
| František Koukal | Czechoslovakia |
| Jesús Esperanza | Spain |
| Khaled Al-Awadhi | Kuwait |
| Guillermo Betancourt | Cuba |
| Dany Haddad | Lebanon |
| Kifah Al-Mutawa | Kuwait |
| Tudor Petruș | Romania |
| Hassan Hamze | Lebanon |
| Ahmed Al-Ahmed | Kuwait |