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

The men's épée 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 27 to 28 July 1980. 42 fencers from 16 nations competed. Each nation was limited to 3 fencers. The event was won by Johan Harmenberg of Sweden, the nation's first victory in the event and first medal of any color in the men's individual épée since 1924. Silver went to Ernő Kolczonay of Hungary, extending the nation's podium streak to four Games despite the retirement of three-time medalist Győző Kulcsár. Philippe Riboud of France took bronze. Sweden's Rolf Edling, a two-time World Champion, made his third final in the event, but once again missed the podium.

## Background

This was the 18th 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.
With West Germany boycotting the Games and Győző Kulcsár retiring, none of the 1976 medalists returned. Two of the other three finalists did, however: fourth-place finisher István Osztrics of Hungary and sixth-place finisher (as well as 1972 finalist) Rolf Edling of Sweden. Philippe Riboud of France was the reigning (1979) World Champion; Sweden's Johan Harmenberg had won in 1977 and Edling had been World Champion in 1973 and 1974. (The 1975 and 1978 World Champion and 1976 Olympic champion, Alexander Pusch, was from the boycotting West Germany.)
Kuwait made its debut in the event. Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Sweden each appeared for the 16th time, tying the absent United States for most among nations.

## Competition format

The 1980 tournament continued to use the mix of pool and knockout rounds used in 1968 and 1976. 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. No barrages were held.
* Round 1: 8 pools of 5 or 6 fencers each. The top 3 in each pool (24 total) advanced.
* Round 2: 4 pools of 6 fencers each. The top 4 in each pool (16 total) advanced.
* Elimination rounds: A double-elimination tournament. The 4 fencers who won in both of the first two rounds advanced, as did the 2 fencers who reached the end of the repechage.
* Final round: 1 pool of 6 fencers.

## Schedule

All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Sunday, 27 July 1980 | | Round 1 |
| Monday, 28 July 1980 | | Round 2 Elimination rounds Final |

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

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | PJ | PR | SG | JP | PP |
| 1 | Piotr Jabłkowski (POL) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 10 | Q | | 3–5 | 5–0 | 5–1 | 5–4 |
| 2 | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 14 | Q | 5–3 | | 3–5 | 5–4 | 5–2 |
| 3 | Stéphane Ganeff (BEL) | 3 | 1 | 15 | 12 | Q | 0–5 | 5–3 | | 5–2 | 5–2 |
| 4 | José Pérez (ESP) | 1 | 3 | 12 | 19 | | 1–5 | 4–5 | 2–5 | | 5–4 |
| 5 | Peder Planting (FIN) | 0 | 4 | 12 | 20 | | 4–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | 4–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool B

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | PB | AA | RE | MS | TS |
| 1 | Philippe Boisse (FRA) | 3 | 1 | 19 | 12 | Q | | 4–5 | 5–3 | 5–1 | 5–3 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 12 | Q | 5–4 | | 3–5 | 5–2 | 5–1 |
| 3 | Rolf Edling (SWE) | 3 | 1 | 18 | 13 | Q | 3–5 | 5–3 | | 5–4 | 5–3 |
| 4 | Mikko Salminen (FIN) | 1 | 3 | 12 | 15 | | 1–5 | 2–5 | 4–5 | | 5–0 |
| 5 | Thierry Soumagne (BEL) | 0 | 4 | 7 | 20 | | 3–5 | 1–5 | 3–5 | 0–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool C

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | IP | JH | IO | JD | HG |
| 1 | Ioan Popa (ROU) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 10 | Q | | 5–2 | 5–3 | 5–2 | 5–3 |
| 2 | Johan Harmenberg (SWE) | 3 | 1 | 17 | 11 | Q | 2–5 | | 5–3 | 5–2 | 5–1 |
| 3 | István Osztrics (HUN) | 2 | 2 | 16 | 15 | Q | 3–5 | 3–5 | | 5–3 | 5–2 |
| 4 | Jiří Douba (TCH) | 1 | 3 | 12 | 17 | | 2–5 | 2–5 | 3–5 | | 5–2 |
| 5 | Heriberto González (CUB) | 0 | 4 | 8 | 20 | | 3–5 | 1–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool D

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | JJ | EF | AMo | AMa | NM |
| 1 | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 14 | Q | | 5–3 | 5.1–5 | 5–4 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Efigenio Favier (CUB) | 2 | 2 | 17 | 17 | Q | 3–5 | | 4–5 | 5–3 | 5–4 |
| 3 | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | 2 | 2 | 18 | 18 | Q | 5–5.1 | 5–4 | | 3–5 | 5–4 |
| 4 | Angelo Mazzoni (ITA) | 1 | 3 | 17 | 18 | | 4–5 | 3–5 | 5–3 | | 5–5.1 |
| 5 | Neal Mallett (GBR) | 1 | 3 | 15 | 20 | | 2–5 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 5.1–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool E

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | AL | LP | SP | HH | GB |
| 1 | Andrzej Lis (POL) | 4 | 0 | 20 | 13 | Q | | 5–3 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 5–4 |
| 2 | László Pető (HUN) | 2 | 2 | 15 | 14 | Q | 3–5 | | 2–5 | 5–2 | 5–2 |
| 3 | Steven Paul (GBR) | 2 | 2 | 17 | 16 | Q | 4–5 | 5–2 | | 3–5 | 5–4 |
| 4 | Heikki Hulkkonen (FIN) | 2 | 2 | 14 | 15 | | 2–5 | 2–5 | 5–3 | | 5–2 |
| 5 | Guillermo Betancourt (CUB) | 0 | 4 | 12 | 20 | | 4–5 | 2–5 | 4–5 | 2–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool F

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | EK | SB | OK | OZ | OAK |
| 1 | Ernő Kolczonay (HUN) | 3 | 1 | 19 | 11 | Q | | 4–5 | 5.1–5 | 5–1 | 5–0 |
| 1 | Stefano Bellone (ITA) | 3 | 1 | 19 | 11 | Q | 5–4 | | 4–5 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| 3 | Oldřich Kubišta (TCH) | 2 | 2 | 18 | 17 | Q | 5–5.1 | 5–4 | | 3–5 | 5–3 |
| 4 | Octavian Zidaru (ROU) | 2 | 2 | 12 | 13 | | 1–5 | 1–5 | 5–3 | | 5–0 |
| 5 | Osama Al-Khurafi (KUW) | 0 | 4 | 4 | 20 | | 0–5 | 1–5 | 3–5 | 0–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool G

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | PP | AP | JL | LS | MAT | DH |
| 1 | Patrick Picot (FRA) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 15 | Q | | 5.1–5 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 5–0 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Anton Pongratz (ROU) | 3 | 2 | 23 | 11 | Q | 5–5.1 | | 3–5 | 5–1 | 5–0 | 5–0 |
| 3 | John Llewellyn (GBR) | 3 | 2 | 23 | 14 | Q | 3–5 | 5–3 | | 5–5 | 5–0 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Leszek Swornowski (POL) | 3 | 2 | 21 | 17 | | 5–4 | 1–5 | 5–5 | | 5–2 | 5–1 |
| 5 | Mohamed Al-Thuwani (KUW) | 1 | 4 | 7 | 23 | | 0–5 | 0–5 | 0–5 | 2–5 | | 5–3 |
| 6 | Dany Haddad (LIB) | 0 | 5 | 7 | 25 | | 2–5 | 0–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 3–5 | |

#### Round 1 Pool H

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | HJ | GB | BL | MF | KH | HH |
| 1 | Hans Jacobson (SWE) | 5 | 0 | 25 | 11 | Q | | 5.1–5 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| 2 | Greg Benko (AUS) | 4 | 1 | 25 | 16 | Q | 5–5.1 | | 5–4 | 5–1 | 5.1–5 | 5–1 |
| 3 | Boris Lukomsky (URS) | 3 | 2 | 21 | 13 | Q | 2–5 | 4–5 | | 5–1 | 5–2 | 5–0 |
| 4 | Marco Falcone (ITA) | 2 | 3 | 14 | 21 | | 2–5 | 1–5 | 1–5 | | 5–2 | 5–4 |
| 5 | Kazem Hasan (KUW) | 1 | 4 | 15 | 21 | | 1–5 | 5–5.1 | 2–5 | 2–5 | | 5–1 |
| 6 | Hassan Hamze (LIB) | 0 | 5 | 7 | 25 | | 1–5 | 1–5 | 0–5 | 4–5 | 1–5 | |

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

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | HJ | EK | SB | AM | AP | JL |
| 1 | Hans Jacobson (SWE) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 15 | Q | | 4–5 | 5–2 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Ernő Kolczonay (HUN) | 4 | 1 | 22 | 28 | Q | 5–4 | | 2–5 | 5–3 | 5–4 | 5–2 |
| 3 | Stefano Bellone (ITA) | 4 | 1 | 22 | 20 | Q | 2–5 | 5–2 | | 5–4 | 5.1–5 | 5–4 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | 2 | 3 | 20 | 21 | Q | 3–5 | 3–5 | 4–5 | | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| 5 | Anton Pongratz (ROU) | 1 | 4 | 20 | 23 | | 3–5 | 4–5 | 5–5.1 | 3–5 | | 5–3 |
| 6 | John Llewellyn (GBR) | 0 | 5 | 14 | 25 | | 2–5 | 2–5 | 4–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | |

#### Round 2 Pool B

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | RE | BL | PB | IP | EF | PJ |
| 1 | Rolf Edling (SWE) | 5 | 0 | 25 | 14 | Q | | 5–2 | 5–3 | 5–2 | 5–3 | 5–4 |
| 2 | Boris Lukomsky (URS) | 4 | 1 | 22 | 20 | Q | 2–5 | | 5.1–5 | 5–4 | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| 3 | Philippe Boisse (FRA) | 2 | 3 | 22 | 22 | Q | 3–5 | 5–5.1 | | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–3 |
| 4 | Ioan Popa (ROU) | 2 | 3 | 20 | 21 | Q | 2–5 | 4–5 | 4–5 | | 5–1 | 5.1–5 |
| 5 | Efigenio Favier (CUB) | 2 | 3 | 17 | 22 | | 3–5 | 3–5 | 5–4 | 1–5 | | 5–3 |
| 6 | Piotr Jabłkowski (POL) | 0 | 5 | 18 | 25 | | 4–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 5–5.1 | 3–5 | |

#### Round 2 Pool C

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | PR | JH | LP | AL | GB | OK |
| 1 | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | 5 | 0 | 25 | 16 | Q | | 5–4 | 5–2 | 5–3 | 5.1–5 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Johan Harmenberg (SWE) | 3 | 2 | 23 | 18 | Q | 4–5 | | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–0 | 5–4 |
| 3 | László Pető (HUN) | 2 | 3 | 20 | 20 | Q | 2–5 | 4–5 | | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Andrzej Lis (POL) | 2 | 3 | 21 | 21 | Q | 3–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | | 4–5 | 5–2 |
| 5 | Greg Benko (AUS) | 2 | 3 | 19 | 23 | | 5–5.1 | 0–5 | 5–4 | 5–4 | | 4–5 |
| 6 | Oldřich Kubišta (TCH) | 1 | 4 | 14 | 24 | | 2–5 | 4–5 | 1–5 | 2–5 | 5–4 | |

#### Round 2 Pool D

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | Notes | JJ | AA | IO | SP | PP | SG |
| 1 | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 14 | Q | | 4–5 | 5–1 | 5–2 | 5–4 | 5–2 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS) | 4 | 1 | 24 | 18 | Q | 5–4 | | 5–2 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 5–3 |
| 3 | István Osztrics (HUN) | 3 | 2 | 18 | 18 | Q | 1–5 | 2–5 | | 5–1 | 5–3 | 5–4 |
| 4 | Steven Paul (GBR) | 3 | 2 | 18 | 19 | Q | 2–5 | 5–4 | 1–5 | | 5–2 | 5–3 |
| 5 | Patrick Picot (FRA) | 1 | 4 | 18 | 24 | | 4–5 | 4–5 | 3–5 | 2–5 | | 5–4 |
| 6 | Stéphane Ganeff (BEL) | 0 | 5 | 16 | 25 | | 2–5 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 3–5 | 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 |
| Hans Jacobson (SWE) | Hans Jacobson (SWE) | W | | | |
| László Pető (HUN) | László Pető (HUN) | L | Hans Jacobson (SWE) | Hans Jacobson (SWE) | L |
| Ioan Popa (ROU) | Ioan Popa (ROU) | W | Ioan Popa (ROU) | Ioan Popa (ROU) | W |
| Boris Lukomsky (URS) | Boris Lukomsky (URS) | L | | | |

##### Winners group 2

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Ernő Kolczonay (HUN) | Ernő Kolczonay (HUN) | W | | | |
| Steven Paul (GBR) | Steven Paul (GBR) | L | Ernő Kolczonay (HUN) | Ernő Kolczonay (HUN) | W |
| Philippe Riboud (FRA) | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | W | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | L |
| Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | L | | | |

##### Winners group 3

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Rolf Edling (SWE) | Rolf Edling (SWE) | W | | | |
| Philippe Boisse (FRA) | Philippe Boisse (FRA) | L | Rolf Edling (SWE) | Rolf Edling (SWE) | W |
| Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS) | Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS) | W | Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS) | Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS) | L |
| Andrzej Lis (POL) | Andrzej Lis (POL) | L | | | |

##### Winners group 4

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 | Round of 8 |
| Johan Harmenberg (SWE) | Johan Harmenberg (SWE) | W | | | |
| Stefano Bellone (ITA) | Stefano Bellone (ITA) | L | Johan Harmenberg (SWE) | Johan Harmenberg (SWE) | W |
| István Osztrics (HUN) | István Osztrics (HUN) | W | István Osztrics (HUN) | István Osztrics (HUN) | |
| Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | 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 |
| László Pető (HUN) | László Pető (HUN) | L | | | | | | |
| Boris Lukomsky (URS) | Boris Lukomsky (URS) | W | Boris Lukomsky (URS) | Boris Lukomsky (URS) | W | | | |
| | | | István Osztrics (HUN) | István Osztrics (HUN) | | | | |
| | | | | | | Boris Lukomsky (URS) | Boris Lukomsky (URS) | |
| Steven Paul (GBR) | Steven Paul (GBR) | L | | | | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | W |
| Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | W | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | W | | | |
| | | | Hans Jacobson (SWE) | Hans Jacobson (SWE) | L | | | |

##### 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 |
| Philippe Boisse (FRA) | Philippe Boisse (FRA) | W | | | | | | |
| Andrzej Lis (POL) | Andrzej Lis (POL) | | Philippe Boisse (FRA) | Philippe Boisse (FRA) | L | | | |
| | | | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | W | | | |
| | | | | | | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | W |
| Stefano Bellone (ITA) | Stefano Bellone (ITA) | L | | | | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | L |
| Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | W | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | Jaroslav Jurka (TCH) | W | | | |
| | | | Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS) | Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS) | L | | | |

### Final round

| Pos | Fencer | W | L | TF | TA | JH | EK | PR | RE | AM | IP |
| | Johan Harmenberg (SWE) | 4 | 1 | 22 | 21 | | 5.1–5 | 5.1–5 | 5–2 | 2–5 | 5–4 |
| | Ernő Kolczonay (HUN) | 3 | 2 | 23 | 19 | 5–5.1 | | 3–5 | 5–1 | 5–3 | 5.1–5 |
| | Philippe Riboud (FRA) | 3 | 2 | 20 | 17 | 5–5.1 | 5–3 | | 0–5 | 5–3 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Rolf Edling (SWE) | 3 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 2–5 | 1–5 | 5–0 | | 5–3 | 5–3 |
| 5 | Aleksandr Mozhayev (URS) | 1 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 5–2 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 3–5 | | 4–5 |
| 6 | Ioan Popa (ROU) | 1 | 4 | 18 | 24 | 4–5 | 5–5.1 | 1–5 | 3–5 | 5–4 | |

## Final classification

| Fencer | Nation |
| Johan Harmenberg | Sweden |
| Ernő Kolczonay | Hungary |
| Philippe Riboud | France |
| Rolf Edling | Sweden |
| Aleksandr Mozhayev | Soviet Union |
| Ioan Popa | Romania |
| Jaroslav Jurka | Czechoslovakia |
| Boris Lukomsky | Soviet Union |
| Hans Jacobson | Sweden |
| István Osztrics | Hungary |
| Aleksandr Abushakhmetov | Soviet Union |
| Philippe Boisse | France |
| László Pető | Hungary |
| Steven Paul | Great Britain |
| Andrzej Lis | Poland |
| Stefano Bellone | Italy |
| Greg Benko | Australia |
| Efigenio Favier | Cuba |
| Anton Pongratz | Romania |
| Patrick Picot | France |
| Oldřich Kubišta | Czechoslovakia |
| Piotr Jabłkowski | Poland |
| Stéphane Ganeff | Belgium |
| John Llewellyn | Great Britain |
| Leszek Swornowski | Poland |
| Octavian Zidaru | Romania |
| Heikki Hulkkonen | Finland |
| Marco Falcone | Italy |
| Angelo Mazzoni | Italy |
| Mikko Salminen | Finland |
| Jiří Douba | Czechoslovakia |
| Neal Mallett | Great Britain |
| José Pérez | Spain |
| Kazem Hasan | Kuwait |
| Mohamed Al-Thuwani | Kuwait |
| Peder Planting | Finland |
| Guillermo Betancourt | Cuba |
| Heriberto González | Cuba |
| Thierry Soumagne | Belgium |
| Osama Al-Khurafi | Kuwait |
| Dany Haddad | Lebanon |
| Hassan Hamze | Lebanon |