The women's foil was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1936 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 4 August 1936 to 5 August 1936. 41 fencers from 17 nations competed, with one additional fencer entered but withdrawing. Nations were limited to three fencers.Official Olympic Report, la84.org. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
The competition format was pool play round-robin, with bouts to five touches. Not all bouts were played in some pools if not necessary to determine advancement. Two points were awarded for each bout won. Ties were broken through fence-off bouts in early rounds if necessary for determining advancement, but by touches received in final rounds (and for non-advancement-necessary placement in earlier rounds).Official Report, p. 756.
Results
Round 1
The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to round 2.Official Report, p. 757.
Pool 1
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Ilona Elek-Schacherer 8 4 0 20 5 2 Elisabeth Grasser 8 4 1 24 13 3 Denise Kramer-Scholer 8 4 1 21 15 4 Toos van der Klaauw 6 3 2 16 15 5 Joanna de Tuscan 2 1 4 15 21 6 Carmen Raisová 2 1 4 15 23 7 Andrée Boisson 0 0 5 6 25
Pool 2
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Helene Mayer 12 6 0 30 6 2 Erna Bogen-Bogáti 10 5 1 27 18 3 Margit Kristian 8 4 2 25 21 4 Hilda von Puttkammer 6 3 3 19 20 5 Berit Granquist 4 2 4 20 26 6 Betty Carnegy-Arbuthnott 0 0 5 12 25 6 Nancy Archibald 0 0 5 8 25
Pool 3
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Karen Lachmann 8 4 1 21 11 2 Marion Lloyd 6 3 2 19 15 3 Adèle Christiaens 6 3 2 19 17 4 Olga Oelkers 6 3 2 20 18 5 Marie Šedivá 4 2 3 14 20 6 Marguerite Reuche 0 0 5 13 25
Pool 4
Scheel won the play-off between herself, Aşani, and Thomas. It is unclear why Aşani did not face Vargha; in general, matches unnecessary to determine qualification were not played (and this reason is given in the official report, but Aşani would have advanced without the need for a play-off pool had she had the opportunity to, and successfully did, beat Vargha.
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Hedwig Haß 12 6 0 30 5 2 Ulla Barding-Poulsen 8 4 1 21 11 3 Ilona Vargha 6 3 1 17 9 4 Ingeborg Scheel 4 2 4 14 24 5 Suat Aşani 4 2 3 16 18 6 Aileen Thomas 4 2 4 20 28 7 Thea Kellner 0 0 6 7 30
Pool 5
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Ellen Müller-Preis 10 5 0 25 7 2 Agathe Turgis 6 3 1 19 12 3 Madeleine Scrève 6 3 1 17 12 4 Grete Olsen 6 3 1 17 15 5 Yvonne Bornand 2 1 4 13 21 6 Ebba Gripenstedt 4 2 4 18 28 7 Halet Çambel 0 0 5 10 25
Pool 6
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Fritzi Wenisch-Filz 10 5 0 25 9 2 Jenny Addams 8 4 1 24 14 3 Judy Guinness 6 3 3 22 23 4 Dorothy Locke 6 3 3 22 24 5 Ivka Tavčar 4 2 4 22 24 6 Gerda Gantz 4 2 4 15 24 7 Kathleen Hughes-Hallett 2 1 5 16 27
Round 2
The top 3 finishers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.Official Report, p. 758.
Pool 1
Locke defeated Bogen-Bogáti in the tie-breaker bout, repeating the result of the pool bout between the two.
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Elisabeth Grasser 10 5 0 25 15 2 Jenny Addams 8 4 1 24 14 3 Dorothy Locke 4 2 3 20 20 4 Erna Bogen-Bogáti 4 2 3 19 21 5 Ulla Barding-Poulsen 2 1 4 16 24 5 Ingeborg Scheel 2 1 4 14 24
Pool 2
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Ellen Müller-Preis 10 5 0 25 11 2 Judy Guinness Penn-Hughes 8 4 1 24 19 3 Olga Oelkers 6 3 2 23 16 4 Grete Olsen 4 2 3 19 22 5 Margit Kristian 2 1 4 13 22 6 Adèle Christiaens 0 0 5 11 25
Pool 3
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Helene Mayer 8 4 0 20 2 2 Marion Lloyd 6 3 1 16 12 3 Ilona Vargha 6 3 1 18 15 4 Madeleine Scrève 2 1 3 10 15 5 Fritzi Wenisch-Filz 2 1 3 13 16 6 Hilda von Puttkammer 0 0 5 11 25
Pool 4
Elek-Schacherer won the play-off against van der Klaauw. The bout between Elek-Schacherer and Kramer-Scholer is shown in the official report as a 5–5 bout with neither given credit for a win; this score is generally not possible under the competition format in use but the official report contains no explanation of the result.
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Hedwig Haß 10 5 0 25 6 2 Karen Lachmann 8 4 1 21 9 3 Ilona Elek-Schacherer 4 2 3 20 19 4 Toos van der Klaauw 4 2 3 15 23 5 Denise Kramer-Scholer 2 1 4 15 21 6 Agathe Turgis 0 0 5 7 25
Semifinals
The top 4 finishers in each pool advanced to the final.Official Report, p. 759.
Semifinal 1
Locke defeated Bogen-Bogáti in the tie-breaker bout, repeating the result of the pool bout between the two.
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Jenny Addams 6 3 1 18 10 2 Ellen Müller-Preis 6 3 1 19 13 2 Ilona Vargha 6 3 1 17 13 4 Hedwig Haß 4 2 2 16 16 5 Marion Lloyd 2 1 4 19 20 6 Olga Oelkers 2 1 4 7 24
Semifinal 2
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Notes 1 Ilona Elek-Schacherer 10 5 0 25 10 2 Helene Mayer 8 4 1 21 11 3 Elisabeth Grasser 4 2 3 19 17 3 Karen Lachmann 4 2 3 17 17 5 Dorothy Locke 2 1 4 8 21 6 Judy Guinness Penn-Hughes 2 1 4 10 24
Final
The final eight fencers competed in a round-robin. Ties, including the three-way tie for second, were broken by touches received in this round rather than play-off bouts as in previous rounds.
Rank Fencer Nation Points Wins Losses Ilona Elek-Schacherer 12 6 1 33 17 Helene Mayer 10 5 2 33 19 Ellen Müller-Preis 10 5 2 32 20 4 Hedwig Haß 10 5 2 30 23 5 Karen Lachmann 6 3 4 23 24 6 Jenny Addams 4 2 5 18 28 7 Ilona Vargha 4 2 5 17 31 8 Elisabeth Grasser 0 0 7 11 35
References