# Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's épée

The men's épée was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twelfth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 30 November 1956. 41 fencers from 18 nations competed. Nations were limited to three fencers each. The event was won by Carlo Pavesi of Italy, the nation's fifth consecutive victory in the men's épée (most among all nations, above France with three). In all five of those Games, Italy earned at least two medals in the event; this was the second sweep during that period for Italy (and fifth overall, with Cuba achieving that once and France twice). Giuseppe Delfino was the silver medalist while Edoardo Mangiarotti took bronze. It was Mangiarotti's third medal in the event, along with gold in 1952 and another bronze in 1948; he was the first man to win three medals in the individual épée.

## Background

This was the 12th 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.
Five of the 10 finalists from the 1952 Games returned: gold medalist (and 1948 bronze medalist) Edoardo Mangiarotti of Italy, fifth-place finisher József Sákovics of Hungary, sixth-place finisher Carlo Pavesi of Italy, seventh-place finisher Per Carleson of Sweden, and eighth-place finisher Carl Forssell of Sweden. The reigning (1955) World Champion, Giorgio Anglesio of Italy, was on the Italian team for the team event but did not compete in the individual event, with Mangiarotti (a two-time World Champion as well as two-time Olympic medalist), Pavesi, and Giuseppe Delfino making up the nation's heavily favored three-man squad for the individual competition.
Indonesia made its debut in the event. East and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany for the first time. Belgium and the United States each appeared for the 11th time, tied for most among nations.

## Competition format

The competition used a pool play format, with each fencer facing the other fencers in the pool in a round robin. For the first time, bouts were to 5 touches. Barrages were used to break ties necessary for advancement (touches against were the first tie-breaker used to give ranks when the rank did not matter). However, only as much fencing was done as was necessary to determine advancement, so some bouts never occurred if the fencers advancing from the pool could be determined. The smaller field resulted in fewer pools and smaller pools (the final was only 8 fencers for the first time since 1912, after decades at 10 or 12 fencers).
Fencers from the four nations that reached the team event final received byes to the quarterfinals.
* Round 1: 4 pools of 7 or 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals.
* Quarterfinals: 4 pools of 7 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.
* Semifinals: 2 pools of 8 fencers each. The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.
* Final: 1 pool of 8 fencers.

## Schedule

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 30 November 1956 | 8:00 15:00 | Round 1 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final |

## Results
### Round 1

The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. Fencers from the four teams that advanced to the final of the men's team épée event received byes through round 1:
* France: Daniel Dagallier, Armand Mouyal, and René Queyroux
* Great Britain: Bill Hoskyns, Michael Howard, and Allan Jay
* Hungary: Lajos Balthazár, Béla Rerrich, and József Sákovics
* Italy: Giuseppe Delfino, Edoardo Mangiarotti, and Carlo Pavesi

#### Pool 1

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Arnold Chernushevich | Soviet Union | 5 | 0 | 25 | 13 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 2 | Skip Shurtz | United States | 4 | 2 | 27 | 17 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 3 | Ghislain Delaunois | Belgium | 4 | 2 | 28 | 22 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 4 | Émile Gretsch | Luxembourg | 3 | 2 | 18 | 16 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 5 | Roland Asselin | Canada | 2 | 4 | 16 | 26 | |
| 6 | Wäinö Korhonen | Finland | 1 | 4 | 17 | 20 | |
| 7 | Alfredo Yanguas | Colombia | 0 | 5 | 8 | 25 | |

#### Pool 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Berndt-Otto Rehbinder | Sweden | 6 | 1 | 32 | 16 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 2 | Günter Stratmann | United Team of Germany | 5 | 2 | 31 | 19 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 3 | Ivan Lund | Australia | 5 | 2 | 28 | 20 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 4 | Jacques Debeur | Belgium | 4 | 3 | 31 | 23 | Qualified for quarterfinals Won barrage vs. Tsirek'idze 5–4 |
| 5 | Revaz Tsirek'idze | Soviet Union | 4 | 3 | 31 | 23 | Lost barrage vs. Debeur 4–5 |
| 6 | Siha Sukarno | Indonesia | 2 | 5 | 19 | 25 | |
| 7 | Emiliano Camargo | Colombia | 2 | 5 | 17 | 28 | |
| 8 | Masayuki Sano | Japan | 0 | 7 | 0 | 35 | |

#### Pool 3

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Richard Pew | United States | 5 | 0 | 25 | 13 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 2 | Per Carleson | Sweden | 4 | 1 | 24 | 13 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 3 | Roger Achten | Belgium | 4 | 2 | 28 | 21 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 4 | Richard Stone | Australia | 3 | 3 | 16 | 25 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 5 | Emilio Echeverry | Colombia | 2 | 4 | 18 | 27 | |
| 6 | Jean-Fernand Leischen | Luxembourg | 1 | 4 | 21 | 21 | |
| 7 | Santiago Massini | Argentina | 0 | 5 | 13 | 25 | |

#### Pool 4

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Édouard Schmit | Luxembourg | 5 | 1 | 29 | 19 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 2 | Rolf Wiik | Finland | 5 | 1 | 26 | 21 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 3 | Carl Forssell | Sweden | 4 | 2 | 24 | 23 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 4 | Kinmont Hoitsma | United States | 3 | 3 | 23 | 21 | Qualified for quarterfinals |
| 5 | Juozas Ūdras | Soviet Union | 2 | 4 | 23 | 22 | |
| 6 | Laurence Harding-Smith | Australia | 2 | 4 | 19 | 25 | |
| 7 | Luis Jiménez | Mexico | 0 | 6 | 17 | 30 | |

### Quarterfinals

The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Edoardo Mangiarotti | Italy | 5 | 1 | 28 | 20 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 2 | Richard Pew | United States | 3 | 3 | 22 | 18 | Qualified for semifinals 2–0 in barrage |
| 3 | Carl Forssell | Sweden | 3 | 3 | 20 | 22 | Qualified for semifinals 2–1 in barrage |
| 4 | Émile Gretsch | Luxembourg | 3 | 3 | 23 | 23 | Qualified for semifinals 1–1 in barrage |
| 5 | Béla Rerrich | Hungary | 3 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 0–3 in barrage |
| 6 | Bill Hoskyns | Great Britain | 2 | 4 | 22 | 22 | |
| 7 | Jacques Debeur | Belgium | 2 | 4 | 20 | 27 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Per Carleson | Sweden | 5 | 1 | 25 | 15 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 2 | René Queyroux | France | 5 | 1 | 27 | 19 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 3 | Carlo Pavesi | Italy | 3 | 3 | 22 | 24 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 4 | Lajos Balthazár | Hungary | 3 | 3 | 22 | 25 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 5 | Arnold Chernushevich | Soviet Union | 2 | 4 | 22 | 23 | |
| 6 | Kinmont Hoitsma | United States | 2 | 4 | 22 | 28 | |
| 7 | Roger Achten | Belgium | 1 | 5 | 23 | 29 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Armand Mouyal | France | 5 | 1 | 26 | 21 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 2 | Ghislain Delaunois | Belgium | 4 | 1 | 21 | 15 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 3 | Giuseppe Delfino | Italy | 4 | 1 | 22 | 17 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 4 | Édouard Schmit | Luxembourg | 3 | 3 | 24 | 24 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 5 | Günter Stratmann | United Team of Germany | 2 | 4 | 25 | 25 | |
| 6 | Allan Jay | Great Britain | 1 | 5 | 20 | 27 | |
| 7 | Richard Stone | Australia | 1 | 5 | 20 | 28 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Berndt-Otto Rehbinder | Sweden | 4 | 1 | 23 | 13 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 2 | József Sákovics | Hungary | 4 | 1 | 23 | 18 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 3 | Skip Shurtz | United States | 4 | 1 | 20 | 21 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 4 | Rolf Wiik | Finland | 3 | 2 | 20 | 15 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 5 | Daniel Dagallier | France | 2 | 4 | 22 | 25 | |
| 6 | Ivan Lund | Australia | 1 | 5 | 21 | 28 | |
| 7 | Michael Howard | Great Britain | 1 | 5 | 19 | 28 | |

### Semifinals

The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | René Queyroux | France | 5 | 2 | 33 | 23 | Qualified for final |
| 2 | Lajos Balthazár | Hungary | 5 | 2 | 32 | 23 | Qualified for final |
| 3 | Edoardo Mangiarotti | Italy | 5 | 2 | 28 | 25 | Qualified for final |
| 4 | Giuseppe Delfino | Italy | 4 | 3 | 31 | 27 | Qualified for final Won barrage vs. Delaunois 5–2 |
| 5 | Ghislain Delaunois | Belgium | 4 | 3 | 30 | 24 | Lost barrage vs. Delfino 2–5 |
| 6 | Carl Forssell | Sweden | 2 | 5 | 25 | 30 | |
| 7 | Skip Shurtz | United States | 2 | 5 | 18 | 32 | |
| 8 | Édouard Schmit | Luxembourg | 1 | 6 | 24 | 35 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Richard Pew | United States | 6 | 1 | 32 | 22 | Qualified for final |
| 2 | Per Carleson | Sweden | 5 | 2 | 28 | 26 | Qualified for final |
| 3 | Carlo Pavesi | Italy | 4 | 3 | 25 | 27 | Qualified for final 1–0 in barrage |
| 4 | Rolf Wiik | Finland | 4 | 3 | 31 | 28 | Qualified for final 1–0 in barrage |
| 5 | Émile Gretsch | Luxembourg | 4 | 3 | 20 | 26 | 0–2 in barrage |
| 6 | Armand Mouyal | France | 3 | 4 | 25 | 25 | |
| 7 | Berndt-Otto Rehbinder | Sweden | 2 | 5 | 16 | 28 | |
| 8 | József Sákovics | Hungary | 0 | 7 | 18 | 30 | |

### Final

The three-way tie among the Italian fencers for the medals at 5–2 required a barrage to settle. The first barrage resulted in another three-way tie at 1–1 (Pavesi defeated Delfino; Delfino defeated Mangiarotti; Mangiarotti defeated Pavesi). In the second barrage, the results were the same except Pavesi defeated Mangiarotti to win the gold medal. Delfino took silver and Mangiarotti bronze. In all, Mangiarotti had faced Delfino 4 times (Mangiarotti winning in the semifinal pool, Delfino winning three times: the final pool and both barrages), Delfino had faced Pavesi 3 times (Pavesi winning all 3 in the final pool and both barrages), and Pavesi had faced Mangiarotti 3 times (Mangiarotti winning in the final pool and first barrage, Pavesi winning in the second barrage).
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| | Carlo Pavesi | Italy | 5 | 2 | 29 | 20 | 1–1, 2–0 in barrages |
| | Giuseppe Delfino | Italy | 5 | 2 | 30 | 27 | 1–1, 1–1 in barrages |
| | Edoardo Mangiarotti | Italy | 5 | 2 | 28 | 25 | 1–1, 0–2 in barrages |
| 4 | Richard Pew | United States | 4 | 3 | 25 | 28 | |
| 5 | Lajos Balthazár | Hungary | 4 | 3 | 30 | 29 | |
| 6 | René Queyroux | France | 3 | 4 | 29 | 25 | |
| 7 | Per Carleson | Sweden | 2 | 5 | 22 | 29 | |
| 8 | Rolf Wiik | Finland | 0 | 7 | 15 | 35 | |