The men's épée was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from October 18 to 19 1964. 65 fencers from 25 nations competed. Each nation was limited to three fencers. The event was won by Grigory Kriss of the Soviet Union, the nation's first gold medal in the event after a bronze four years earlier. The Soviets also took bronze, with Guram Kostava finishing in third place. Between the two was silver medalist Bill Hoskyns of Great Britain; it was the second consecutive Games with a British silver medalist in the event. Italy's six-Games gold medal streak in the men's individual épée ended with the nation missing the podium entirely; Gianluigi Saccaro finished fourth after losing the bronze-medal barrage to Kostava.

Background

This was the 14th 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.

Four of the eight finalists from the 1960 Games returned, including all three medalists: gold medalist (and 1956 silver medalist) Giuseppe Delfino of Italy, silver medalist Allan Jay of Great Britain, bronze medalist Bruno Habārovs of the Soviet Union, and sixth-place finisher Yves Dreyfus of France. The field included the previous five World Champions: Bill Hoskyns of Great Britain (1958), Habārovs (1959), Jack Guittet of France (1961), István Kausz of Hungary (1962), and Roland Losert of Austria (1963, the reigning champion).

Malaysia and South Korea each made their debut in the event. Belgium and the United States each appeared for the 13th time, tied for most among nations.

Competition format

The competition underwent a significant format change from prior Games. Rather than exclusively pool play, the format now featured a mix of pool play and single-elimination brackets. It was the first time, other than the odd "extra final" round in 1928, that bracket play was used in the event. The format began with two rounds of pool play that narrowed the field to 24 fencers, continued with three rounds of knockout brackets that reduced the competitors to 4, and finished with a final pool featuring those fencers. A ranking bracket was also used for the four quarterfinal losers, placing them 5th, 6th, and 7th (two fencers, with no 7th/8th match). Barrages were used to break ties where necessary for advancement out of pools. Pool round bouts were to 5 touches, with double-losses possible. Knockout round bouts were to 10 touches.

Round 1: 8 pools, 8 or 9 fencers to a pool, top 5 advance (total 40 advancing) Round 2: 6 pools, 6 or 7 fencers to a pool, top 4 advance (total 24 advancing) Round of 24: Single-elimination. 16 of the 24 fencers competed, with 8 others having a bye. Round of 16: Single-elimination. The 8 winners of the round of 24 faced the 8 fencers who had a bye. Quarterfinals: Single-elimination, with losers to a consolation bracket. The winners advanced to the final pool. 5th–8th bracket: Quarterfinal losers competed in two 5th–8th semifinals, with the winners playing a 5th/6th final. Final pool: The four quarterfinal winners competed in a round-robin final pool.

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round Sunday, 18 October 1964 8:30  Round 1Round 2 Monday, 19 October 1964 8:30   17:30 Round of 24Round of 16QuarterfinalsClassification 5–8Final

Results

Round 1

Round 1 pool A

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes 1 Hans Lagfrwall 6 1 2 Bruno Habārovs 6 1 3 Roland Losert 5 2 4 Claudio Polledri 4 3 5 John Humphreys 4 3 6 Zelmar Casco 2 5 7 Kim Man Shik 1 6 8 Ronnie Theseira 0 7

Round 1 pool B

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Grigory Kriss 6 1 2 Paul Gnaier 5 2 3 Yves Dreyfus 4 3 4 Hassan Sayd 4 3 5 Rene van den Driessche 3 4 Okawa Heizaburo 3 4 7 Xuan Tran Van 1 6 8 Michael Ryan 1 6

Barrage

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes5 Okawa Heizaburo 1 0 6 Rene van den Driessche 0 1

Round 1 pool C

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Peter Jacobs 6 1 2 Henryk Nielaba 5 2 3 Guram Kostava 5 2 4 Orvar Lindwall 4 3 5 J. Bouchier-Hayes 3 4 Joseph Gemayel 3 4 7 Francisco Serp 2 5 8 Bijan Zarnegar 0 7

Barrage

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes5 J. Bouchier-Hayes 1 0 6 Joseph Gemayel 0 1

Round 1 pool D

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Bogdan Gonsior 6 1 2 Michel Saikali 5 2 3 Rudolf Trost 5 2 4 Gianluigi Saccaro 4 3 5 Stefan Haukler 4 3 6 Frank Anger 3 4 7 John Andru 1 6 8 Shahpour Zarnegar 0 7

Round 1 pool E

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Claude Bourquard 7 1 2 Alberto Pellegrino 6 2 Walter Bar 6 2 4 Goran Abrahamson 5 3 5 Dietrich Hecke 5 3 6 Hahn Myung Seok 3 5 7 Sergio Vergara 2 6 8 Didier Tamayo 1 7 9 Houshmand Almasi 1 7

Round 1 pool F

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Franz Rompza 6 1 2 Gyoyo Kulcsar 5 2 3 Giuseppe Delfino 4 3 4 Allan Jay 4 3 5 Marcus Leyrer 3 4 Ivan Lund 3 4 7 Robert Foxcroft 2 5 8 Ernesto Sastre 0 7

Barrage

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes5 Marcus Leyrer 1 0 6 Ivan Lund 0 1

Round 1 pool G

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Tabuchi Kazuhiko 5 2 2 Jack Guittet 5 2 3 Michel Steininger 4 3 4 Istvan Kausz 4 3 5 David Micahnik 4 3 6 Russ Hobby 3 4 7 Sergio Jimenez 2 5 8 Emilio Echeverri 1 6

Round 1 pool H

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Bill Hoskyns 6 1 2 Zoltan Nemere 6 1 3 Paul Pesthy 4 3 4 Shin Doo Ho 4 3 5 Wieslaw Glos 4 3 6 Araki Toshiaki 3 4 7 Aquiles Gloffka 1 6 8 Jesus Taboada 0 7

Round 2

Round 2 pool A

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Gyozo Kulcsar 5 1 2 Hans Lagfrwall 4 2 3 Hassan Sayd 3 3 4 Giuseppe Delfino 3 3 5 Wieslaw Glos 2 4 6 J. Bouchier-Hayes 1 5 7 Tabuchi Kazuhiko 1 5

Round 2 pool B

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Grigory Kriss 4 2 2 Bill Hoskyns 4 2 3 Alberto Pellegrino 4 2 4 Goran Abrahamson 3 3 David Micahnik 3 3 6 Istvan Kausz 2 4 7 Yves Dreyfus 1 5

Barrage

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes4 Goran Abrahamson 1 0 5 David Micahnik 0 1

Round 2 pool C

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Gianluigi Saccaro 4 2 2 Jack Guittet 4 2 3 Michel Steininger 4 2 4 Paul Gnaier 3 3 5 Marcus Leyrer 2 4 6 Peter Jacobs 1 5 7 Shin Doo Ho 1 5

Round 2 pool D

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Bogdan Gonsior 4 2 2 Rudolf Trost 4 2 3 Zoltan Nemere 4 2 4 Dietrich Hecke 3 3 5 Bruno Habārovs 2 4 6 Okawa Heizaburo 2 4 7 Claudio Polledri 2 4

Round 2 pool E

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Roland Losert 5 0 2 Claude Bourquard 3 2 3 Guram Kostava 3 2 4 Orvar Lindwall 2 3 5 Stefan Haukler 0 5 6 Michel Saikali 0 5

Round 2 pool F

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes1 Henryk Nielaba 4 1 2 Franz Rompza 4 1 3 Walter Bar 2 3 John Humphreys 2 3 Allan Jay 2 3 6 Paul Pesthy 1 4

Barrage

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes3 Walter Bar 1 0 4 John Humphreys 1 0 5 Allan Jay 0 2

Knockout rounds

The winner of each group advanced to the final pool, while the runner-up moved into a 5th-place semifinal.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Fifth place semifinal

Final

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes 1 Bill Hoskyns 2 1 Grigory Kriss 2 1 3 Guram Kostava 1 2 Gianluigi Saccaro 1 2

Gold medal barrage

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Grigory Kriss 1 0 Bill Hoskyns 0 1

Bronze medal barrage

Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Guram Kostava 1 0 4 Gianluigi Saccaro 0 1

References

Sources