Fencing at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's foil

The men's foil was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1976 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventeenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from July 20 to 21, 1976. A total of 56 fencers from 23 nations competed.^[1] Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Fabio Dal Zotto of Italy, the nation's first victory in the men's foil since 1936 and fifth overall (second all-time behind France's seven). Italy had not reached the podium in the event since 1956. Aleksandr Romankov's silver was the Soviet Union's first medal in the event since 1960. In contrast, France won its fourth consecutive bronze medal with Bernard Talvard's third-place finish.

Men's foil at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Fencing pictogram
Venue	University of Montréal
Dates	July 20–21, 1976
Competitors	56 from 23 nations
Medalists
Fabio Dal Zotto  Italy Aleksandr Romankov  Soviet Union Bernard Talvard  France
← 1972 1980 →

Background

This was the 17th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1908 (when there was a foil display only rather than a medal event). Five of the six finalists from 1972 returned (all except champion Witold Woyda of Poland): two-time silver medalist (and 1964 fifth-place finisher) Jenő Kamuti of Hungary, bronze medalist (and 1968 finalist) Christian Noël of France, fourth-place finisher (and 1968 finalist) Mihai Țiu of Romania, fifth-place finisher Vladimir Denisov of the Soviet Union, and sixth-place finisher Marek Dąbrowski of Poland. Noël had won the 1973 and 1975 world championships; Aleksandr Romankov of the Soviet Union was the 1974 champion.^[2]

Kuwait made its debut in the men's foil; East Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 16th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the inaugural 1896 competition.

Competition format

The 1976 tournament returned to a mix of pool and knockout rounds similar to that used in 1968, after the 1972 edition briefly used a pool-only format. The competition included three 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. Repechages were not used in the first three rounds, but were used to determine medalists if necessary in the final.

Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date	Time	Round
Tuesday, 20 July 1976	8:30 11:00 15:00 18:00	Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Elimination rounds
Wednesday, 21 July 1976	18:00	Final

Results

Round 1

Round 1 Pool A

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		CN	KH	JG	GB	SS	KR	AAA
1	Christian Noël (FRA)	6	0	30	11	Q			5–2	5–4	5–1	5–0	5–3	5–1
2	Klaus Haertter (GDR)	4	2	25	10			2–5		3–5	5–0	5–0	5–0	5–0
3	Jorge Garbey (CUB)	4	2	25	18			4–5	5–3		1–5	5–1	5–3	5–1
4	Greg Benko (AUS)	3	3	20	16			1–5	0–5	5–1		4–5	5–0	5–0
5	Stefano Simoncelli (ITA)	3	3	16	21			0–5	0–5	1–5	5–4		5–2	5–0
6	Kam Roger (HKG)	1	5	13	29			3–5	0–5	3–5	0–5	2–5		5–4
7	Ahmed Al-Arbeed (KUW)	0	6	6	30			1–5	0–5	1–5	0–5	0–5	4–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 1 Pool B

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		MT	ESa	BT	BP	ESi	NWB	ANAS
1	Mihai Țiu (ROU)	5	1	29	16	Q			5–2	4–5	5–3	5–3	5–1	5–2
2	Enrique Salvat (CUB)	5	1	27	15			2–5		5–2	5–2	5–3	5–1	5–2
3	Bernard Talvard (FRA)	4	2	24	16			5–4	2–5		2–5	5–2	5–0	5–0
4	Barry Paul (GBR)	4	2	25	22			3–5	2–5	5–2		5–4	5–4	5–2
5	Ernest Simon (AUS)	2	4	22	20			3–5	3–5	2–5	4–5		5–0	5–0
6	Ng Wing Biu (HKG)	1	5	11	26			1–5	1–5	0–5	4–5	0–5		5–1
7	Abdul Nasser Al-Sayegh (KUW)	0	6	7	30			2–5	2–5	0–5	2–5	0–5	1–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 1 Pool C

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		VD	NS	MD	ML	JK	JS
1	Vladimir Denisov (URS)	5	0	25	11	Q			5–3	5–4	5–1	5–1	5–2
2	Noriyuki Sato (JPN)	3	2	18	18			3–5		5–3	0–5	5–1	5–4
3	Marek Dąbrowski (POL)	2	3	19	19			4–5	3–5		5–3	2–5	5–1
4	Martin Lang (USA)	2	3	17	19			1–5	5–0	3–5		3–5	5–4
5	Jenő Kamuti (HUN)	2	3	15	20			1–5	1–5	5–2	5–3		3–5
6	José Samalot (PUR)	1	4	16	23			2–5	4–5	1–5	4–5	5–3

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 1 Pool D

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		VS	HH	ED	FDZ	FL	CM
1	Vasyl Stankovych (URS)	4	1	24	14	Q			4–5	5–1	5–4	5–2	5–2
2	Harald Hein (FRG)	4	1	24	18			5–4		4–5	5–4	5–1	5–4
3	Edward Donofrio (USA)	4	1	21	18			1–5	5–4		5–4	5–4	5–1
4	Fabio Dal Zotto (ITA)	2	3	22	22			4–5	4–5	4–5		5–4	5–3
5	Fernando Lupiz (ARG)	1	4	16	24			2–5	1–5	4–5	4–5		5–4
6	Chan Matthew (HKG)	0	5	14	25			2–5	4–5	1–5	3–5	4–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 1 Pool E

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		FP	CM	JK	RB	MD	JA
1	Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA)	4	1	24	13	Q			5–4	5–3	4–5	5–1	5–0
2	Carlo Montano (ITA)	3	2	23	14			4–5		5–3	4–5	5–0	5–1
3	József Komatits (HUN)	3	2	21	13			3–5	3–5		5–2	5–1	5–0
4	Rob Bruniges (GBR)	3	2	21	19			5–4	5–4	2–5		4–5	5–1
5	Michel Dessureault (CAN)	2	3	12	21			1–5	0–5	1–5	5–4		5–2
6	Jamal Ameen (KUW)	0	5	4	25			0–5	1–5	0–5	1–5	2–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 1 Pool F

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		LS	FK	PG	GP	TS	GM
1	Lajos Somodi Jr. (HUN)	5	0	25	13	Q			5–3	5–3	5–4	5–1	5–2
2	František Koukal (TCH)	4	1	23	14			3–5		5–3	5–4	5–1	5–1
3	Patrice Gaille (SUI)	3	2	21	16			3–5	3–5		5–1	5–2	5–3
4	Graham Paul (GBR)	2	3	19	16			4–5	4–5	1–5		5–1	5–0
5	Thierry Soumagne (BEL)	1	4	10	20			1–5	1–5	2–5	1–5		5–0
6	Göran Malkar (SWE)	0	5	6	25			2–5	1–5	3–5	0–5	0–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 1 Pool G

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		AR	ZW	TJ	HN	TP	LF
1	Aleksandr Romankov (URS)	4	1	23	10	Q			5–1	5–2	5–0	3–5	5–2
2	Ziemowit Wojciechowski (POL)	4	1	21	10			1–5		5–2	5–1	5–1	5–1
3	Toshio Jingu (JPN)	3	2	19	13			2–5	2–5		5–0	5–2	5–1
4	Hossein Niknam (IRI)	2	3	11	22			0–5	1–5	0–5		5–3	5–4
5	Tudor Petruș (ROU)	1	4	14	23			5–3	1–5	2–5	3–5		3–5
6	Lehel Fekete (CAN)	1	4	13	23			2–5	1–5	1–5	4–5	5–3

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 1 Pool H

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		MK	JJ	MB	EB	AA	OV
1	Masanori Kawatsu (JPN)	4	1	23	11	Q			5–2	3–5	5–3	5–0	5–1
2	Jaroslav Jurka (TCH)	3	2	21	17			2–5		4–5	5–4	5–3	5–0
3	Matthias Behr (FRG)	3	2	20	18			5–3	5–4		3–5	2–5	5–1
4	Ed Ballinger (USA)	3	2	22	20			3–5	4–5	5–3		5–4	5–3
5	Ahmed Akbari (IRI)	2	3	17	21			0–5	3–5	5–2	4–5		5–4
6	Omar Vergara (ARG)	0	5	9	25			1–5	0–5	1–5	3–5	4–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 1 Pool I

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		KR	PK	LK	EJ	AAPA	DF
1	Klaus Reichert (FRG)	4	1	22	11	Q			5–3	2–5	5–3	5–0	5–0
2	Petru Kuki (ROU)	4	1	23	15			3–5		5–2	5–3	5–3	5–2
3	Lech Koziejowski (POL)	3	2	21	17			5–2	2–5		5–4	4–5	5–1
4	Eduardo Jhons (CUB)	2	3	20	20			3–5	3–5	4–5		5–4	5–1
5	Ali Asghar Pashapour-Alamdari (IRI)	2	3	17	21			0–5	3–5	5–4	4–5		5–2
6	Daniel Feraud (ARG)	0	5	6	25			0–5	2–5	1–5	1–5	2–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 223

Round 2

Round 2 Pool A

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		CN	VS	PK	LK	JJ	HN
1	Christian Noël (FRA)	4	1	23	14	Q			3–5	5–1	5–3	5–2	5–3
2	Vasyl Stankovych (URS)	3	2	23	18			5–3		5–2	4–5	5–3	4–5
3	Petru Kuki (ROU)	3	2	18	18			1–5	2–5		5–1	5–4	5–3
4	Lech Koziejowski (POL)	2	3	18	20			3–5	5–4	1–5		4–5	5–1
5	Jaroslav Jurka (TCH)	2	3	19	21			2–5	3–5	4–5	5–4		5–2
6	Hossein Niknam (IRI)	1	4	14	24			3–5	5–4	3–5	1–5	2–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 225

Round 2 Pool B

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		FK	VD	RB	HH	PG	ML
1	František Koukal (TCH)	5	0	25	14	Q			5–2	5–3	5–4	5–2	5–3
2	Vladimir Denisov (URS)	4	1	22	16			2–5		5–4	5–4	5–1	5–2
3	Rob Bruniges (GBR)	2	3	21	19			3–5	4–5		5–2	4–5	5–2
4	Harald Hein (FRG)	2	3	20	22			4–5	4–5	2–5		5–4	5–3
5	Patrice Gaille (SUI)	2	3	17	20			2–5	1–5	5–4	4–5		5–1
6	Martin Lang (USA)	0	5	11	25			3–5	2–5	2–5	3–5	1–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 225

Round 2 Pool C

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		FP	FDZ	MB	ED	LS	TJ
1	Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA)	4	1	23	12	Q			3–5	5–4	5–1	5–1	5–1
2	Fabio Dal Zotto (ITA)	4	1	23	14			5–3		3–5	5–4	5–1	5–1
3	Matthias Behr (FRG)	3	2	22	17			4–5	5–3		3–5	5–3	5–1
4	Edward Donofrio (USA)	3	2	20	18			1–5	4–5	5–3		5–4	5–1
5	Lajos Somodi Jr. (HUN)	1	4	14	23			1–5	1–5	3–5	4–5		5–3
6	Toshio Jingu (JPN)	0	5	7	25			1–5	1–5	1–5	1–5	3–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 225

Round 2 Pool D

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		KR	KH	EB	JK	MT	EJ
1	Klaus Reichert (FRG)	4	1	24	18	Q			5–4	4–5	5–4	5–1	5–4
2	Klaus Haertter (GDR)	3	2	23	18			4–5		5–1	4–5	5–3	5–4
3	Ed Ballinger (USA)	3	2	20	20			5–4	1–5		4–5	5–4	5–2
4	József Komatits (HUN)	3	2	19	22			4–5	5–4	5–4		0–5	5–4
5	Mihai Țiu (ROU)	2	3	18	15			1–5	3–5	4–5	5–0		5–0
6	Eduardo Jhons (CUB)	0	5	14	25			4–5	4–5	2–5	4–5	0–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 225

Round 2 Pool E

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		BT	ZW	ES	GP	CM	NS
1	Bernard Talvard (FRA)	4	1	22	15	Q			2–5	5–1	5–4	5–2	5–3
2	Ziemowit Wojciechowski (POL)	3	2	21	20			5–2		2–5	5–4	4–5	5–4
3	Enrique Salvat (CUB)	3	2	16	18			1–5	5–2		5–3	0–5	5–3
4	Graham Paul (GBR)	2	3	21	20			4–5	4–5	3–5		5–1	5–4
5	Carlo Montano (ITA)	2	3	17	19			2–5	5–4	5–0	1–5		4–5
6	Noriyuki Sato (JPN)	1	4	19	24			3–5	4–5	3–5	4–5	5–4

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 225

Round 2 Pool F

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		AR	GB	JG	MD	MK	BP
1	Aleksandr Romankov (URS)	4	1	22	13	Q			5–4	2–5	5–1	5–1	5–2
2	Greg Benko (AUS)	3	2	21	15			4–5		5–1	5–3	5–1	2–5
3	Jorge Garbey (CUB)	3	2	20	18			5–2	1–5		4–5	5–4	5–2
4	Marek Dąbrowski (POL)	2	3	18	22			1–5	3–5	5–4		4–5	5–3
5	Masanori Kawatsu (JPN)	2	3	16	23			1–5	1–5	4–5	5–4		5–4
6	Barry Paul (GBR)	1	4	16	22			2–5	5–2	2–5	3–5	4–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 225

Round 3

Round 3 Pool A

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		KR	PK	GB	MD	EB	FK
1	Klaus Reichert (FRG)	4	1	24	9	Q			4–5	5–1	5–1	5–0	5–2
2	Petru Kuki (ROU)	4	1	22	19			5–4		5–2	5–4	2–5	5–4
3	Greg Benko (AUS)	2	3	17	19			1–5	2–5		4–5	5–1	5–3
4	Marek Dąbrowski (POL)	2	3	19	22			1–5	4–5	5–4		4–5	5–3
5	Ed Ballinger (USA)	2	3	14	21			0–5	5–2	1–5	5–4		3–5
6	František Koukal (TCH)	1	4	17	23			2–5	4–5	3–5	3–5	5–3

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 227

Round 3 Pool B

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		VD	HH	FP	MB	ES	ZW
1	Vladimir Denisov (URS)	4	1	23	13	Q			5–1	3–5	5–4	5–1	5–2
2	Harald Hein (FRG)	4	1	21	18			1–5		5–3	5–4	5–2	5–4
3	Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA)	3	2	20	16			5–3	3–5		2–5	5–1	5–2
4	Matthias Behr (FRG)	2	3	21	19			4–5	4–5	5–2		3–5	5–2
5	Enrique Salvat (CUB)	2	3	14	21			1–5	2–5	1–5	5–3		5–3
6	Ziemowit Wojciechowski (POL)	0	5	13	25			2–5	4–5	2–5	2–5	3–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 227

Round 3 Pool C

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		AR	KH	JK	BT	GP	JG
1	Aleksandr Romankov (URS)	5	0	25	15	Q			5–2	5–3	5–4	5–2	5–4
2	Klaus Haertter (GDR)	3	2	21	16			2–5		4–5	5–3	5–1	5–2
3	József Komatits (HUN)	3	2	21	20			3–5	5–4		5–4	3–5	5–2
4	Bernard Talvard (FRA)	2	3	21	19			4–5	3–5	4–5		5–2	5–2
5	Graham Paul (GBR)	1	4	14	23			2–5	1–5	5–3	2–5		4–5
6	Jorge Garbey (CUB)	1	4	15	24			4–5	2–5	2–5	2–5	5–4

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 227

Round 3 Pool D

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		CN	FDZ	VS	ED	LK	RB
1	Christian Noël (FRA)	5	0	25	13	Q			5–4	5–2	5–2	5–3	5–2
2	Fabio Dal Zotto (ITA)	4	1	24	11			4–5		5–3	5–2	5–0	5–1
3	Vasyl Stankovych (URS)	3	2	20	18			2–5	3–5		5–4	5–3	5–1
4	Edward Donofrio (USA)	1	4	17	23			2–5	2–5	4–5		5–3	4–5
5	Lech Koziejowski (POL)	1	4	14	23			3–5	0–5	3–5	3–5		5–3
6	Rob Bruniges (GBR)	1	4	12	24			2–5	1–5	1–5	5–4	3–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 227

Double elimination rounds

Winners brackets

Winners group 1

	Round of 16					Round of 8
	Christian Noël (FRA)		8
	Marek Dąbrowski (POL)		10			Marek Dąbrowski (POL)		3
	Vasyl Stankovych (URS)		10			Vasyl Stankovych (URS)		10
	Klaus Haertter (GDR)		2

Winners group 2

	Round of 16					Round of 8
	Vladimir Denisov (URS)		10
	József Komatits (HUN)		6			Vladimir Denisov (URS)		9
	Greg Benko (AUS)		10			Greg Benko (AUS)		10
	Klaus Reichert (FRG)		9

Winners group 3

	Round of 16					Round of 8
	Fabio Dal Zotto (ITA)		10
	Edward Donofrio (USA)		4			Fabio Dal Zotto (ITA)		10
	Harald Hein (FRG)		10			Harald Hein (FRG)		9
	Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA)		9

Winners group 4

	Round of 16					Round of 8
	Petru Kuki (ROU)		5
	Bernard Talvard (FRA)		10			Bernard Talvard (FRA)		10
	Matthias Behr (FRG)		5			Aleksandr Romankov (URS)		3
	Aleksandr Romankov (URS)		10

Losers brackets

Losers group 1

	Round of 4					Round of 4					Round of 2
	Christian Noël (FRA)		10
	Klaus Haertter (GDR)		7			Christian Noël (FRA)		10
						Marek Dąbrowski (POL)		5
											Christian Noël (FRA)		6
	József Komatits (HUN)		10								Aleksandr Romankov (URS)		10
	Klaus Reichert (FRG)		5			József Komatits (HUN)		3
						Aleksandr Romankov (URS)		10

Losers group 2

	Round of 4					Round of 4					Round of 2
	Edward Donofrio (USA)		5
	Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA)		10			Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA)		10
						Harald Hein (FRG)		6
											Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA)		10
	Petru Kuki (ROU)		10								Vladimir Denisov (URS)		1
	Matthias Behr (FRG)		9			Petru Kuki (ROU)		8
						Vladimir Denisov (URS)		10

Final round

Dal Zotto and Romankov each finished with 4 wins and 1 loss in the pool (with Romankov's loss being to Dal Zotto; Dal Zotto had been beaten by Talvard). They faced off again in the barrage to determine the gold and silver medals; Dal Zotto again defeated Romankov, 5–1.

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Qual.		FDZ	AR	BT	VS	FP	GB
1	Fabio Dal Zotto (ITA)	4	1	24	15	B			5–1	4–5	5–4	5–1	5–4
1	Aleksandr Romankov (URS)	4	1	21	13			1–5		5–2	5–1	5–1	5–4
	Bernard Talvard (FRA)	3	2	19	21			5–4	2–5		5–4	2–5	5–3
4	Vasyl Stankovych (URS)	2	3	19	18			4–5	1–5	4–5		5–1	5–2
5	Frédéric Pietruszka (FRA)	2	3	13	19			1–5	1–5	5–2	1–5		5–2
6	Greg Benko (AUS)	0	5	15	25			4–5	4–5	3–5	2–5	2–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 228

Barrage

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA		FDZ	AR
	Fabio Dal Zotto (ITA)	1	0	5	1			5–1
	Aleksandr Romankov (URS)	0	1	1	5		1–5

Source: Official Report, vol. 3, p. 228

Final classification

Fencer	Country
Fabio Dal Zotto	Italy
Aleksandr Romankov	Soviet Union
Bernard Talvard	France
Vasyl Stankovych	Soviet Union
Frédéric Pietruszka	France
Greg Benko	Australia
Vladimir Denisov	Soviet Union
Christian Noël	France
József Komatits	Hungary
Petru Kuki	Romania
Harald Hein	West Germany
Marek Dąbrowski	Poland
Matthias Behr	West Germany
Klaus Haertter	East Germany
Klaus Reichert	West Germany
Edward Donofrio	United States
Enrique Salvat	Cuba
Ed Ballinger	United States
František Koukal	Czechoslovakia
Graham Paul	Great Britain
Lech Koziejowski	Poland
Jorge Garbey	Cuba
Rob Bruniges	Great Britain
Ziemowit Wojciechowski	Poland
Mihai Țiu	Romania
Carlo Montano	Italy
Jaroslav Jurka	Czechoslovakia
Patrice Gaille	Switzerland
Masanori Kawatsu	Japan
Noriyuki Sato	Japan
Barry Paul	Great Britain
Lajos Somodi Jr.	Hungary
Hossein Niknam	Iran
Eduardo Jhons	Cuba
Martin Lang	United States
Toshio Jingu	Japan
Stefano Simoncelli	Italy
Ahmed Akbari	Iran
Ali Asghar Pashapour-Alamdari	Iran
Jenő Kamuti	Hungary
Michel Dessureault	Canada
Ernest Simon	Australia
José Samalot	Puerto Rico
Fernando Lupiz	Argentina
Tudor Petruș	Romania
Thierry Soumagne	Belgium
Lehel Fekete	Canada
Ng Wing Biu	Hong Kong
Kam Roger	Hong Kong
Chan Matthew	Hong Kong
Omar Vergara	Argentina
Daniel Feraud	Argentina
Göran Malkar	Sweden
Jamal Ameen	Kuwait
Abdul Nasser Al-Sayegh	Kuwait
Ahmed Al-Arbeed	Kuwait

References

1. . sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
2. "Foil, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 November 2020.