# Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Women's foil

The women's foil was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event. The competition was held on 29 November 1956. 23 fencers from 11 nations competed.

## Competition format

The competition used a pool play format, with each fencer facing the other fencers in the pool in a round robin. Bouts were to 4 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.

## Results
### Round 1

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

#### Pool 1

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Maxine Mitchell | United States | 5 | 1 | 21 | 15 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 2 | Emma Yefimova | Soviet Union | 4 | 2 | 21 | 10 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 3 | Lídia Sákovicsné Dömölky | Hungary | 4 | 2 | 19 | 14 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 4 | Catherine Delbarre | France | 3 | 3 | 17 | 14 | Qualified for semifinals Won barrage vs. Cesari 4–2 |
| 5 | Velleda Cesari | Italy | 3 | 3 | 17 | 17 | Lost barrage vs. Delbarre 2–4 |
| 6 | Mary Glen-Haig | Great Britain | 2 | 4 | 12 | 21 | |
| 7 | Denise O'Brien | Australia | 0 | 6 | 8 | 24 | |

#### Pool 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Jan York-Romary | United States | 5 | 2 | 23 | 17 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 2 | Ellen Müller-Preis | Austria | 5 | 2 | 22 | 19 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 3 | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | Italy | 4 | 3 | 25 | 19 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 4 | Pilar Roldán | Mexico | 4 | 3 | 22 | 23 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 5 | Ecaterina Orb-Lazăr | Romania | 3 | 4 | 18 | 18 | |
| 6 | Nadezhda Shitikova | Soviet Union | 3 | 4 | 21 | 22 | |
| 7 | Régine Veronnet | France | 3 | 4 | 22 | 23 | |
| 8 | Lois Joseph | Australia | 1 | 6 | 18 | 29 | |

#### Pool 3

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Gillian Sheen | Great Britain | 6 | 1 | 27 | 10 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 2 | Olga Orban-Szabo | Romania | 5 | 1 | 21 | 17 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 3 | Renée Garilhe | France | 5 | 2 | 24 | 19 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 4 | Karen Lachmann | Denmark | 4 | 3 | 20 | 21 | Qualified for semifinals |
| 5 | Valentina Rastvorova | Soviet Union | 3 | 4 | 22 | 21 | |
| 6 | Judy Goodrich | United States | 3 | 4 | 17 | 24 | |
| 7 | Magda Nyári-Kovács | Hungary | 1 | 5 | 15 | 20 | |
| 8 | Joy Hardon | Australia | 0 | 7 | 12 | 28 | |

### Semifinals

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

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | Italy | 4 | 0 | 16 | 2 | Qualified for final |
| 2 | Karen Lachmann | Denmark | 4 | 0 | 16 | 6 | Qualified for final |
| 3 | Renée Garilhe | France | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | Qualified for final |
| 4 | Ellen Müller-Preis | Austria | 2 | 3 | 14 | 12 | Qualified for final |
| 5 | Emma Yefimova | Soviet Union | 1 | 4 | 9 | 17 | |
| 6 | Maxine Mitchell | United States | 0 | 5 | 2 | 20 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| 1 | Catherine Delbarre | France | 4 | 1 | 18 | 11 | Qualified for final |
| 2 | Jan York-Romary | United States | 3 | 2 | 15 | 13 | Qualified for final |
| 3 | Olga Orban-Szabo | Romania | 3 | 2 | 15 | 14 | Qualified for final |
| 4 | Gillian Sheen | Great Britain | 2 | 3 | 13 | 13 | Qualified for final Won barrage vs. Sákovicsné Dömölky 4–2 |
| 5 | Lídia Sákovicsné Dömölky | Hungary | 2 | 3 | 15 | 14 | Lost barrage vs. Sheen 2–4 |
| 6 | Pilar Roldán | Mexico | 1 | 4 | 8 | 19 | |

### Final

Orban-Szabo defeated Sheen in the round-robin, but had to face her again in a barrage after finishing tied at 6–1 (Orban-Szabo had lost to Garilhe). In the barrage, Sheen was the victor to win the gold medal.
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | TF | TA | Notes |
| | Gillian Sheen | Great Britain | 6 | 1 | 26 | 20 | Won barrage vs. Orban-Szabo 4–2 |
| | Olga Orban-Szabo | Romania | 6 | 1 | 27 | 17 | Lost barrage vs. Sheen 2–4 |
| | Renée Garilhe | France | 5 | 2 | 26 | 14 | |
| 4 | Jan York-Romary | United States | 4 | 3 | 21 | 23 | |
| 5 | Catherine Delbarre | France | 3 | 4 | 20 | 25 | |
| 6 | Karen Lachmann | Denmark | 2 | 5 | 17 | 20 | |
| 7 | Ellen Müller-Preis | Austria | 1 | 6 | 20 | 25 | |
| 8 | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | Italy | 1 | 6 | 14 | 27 | |