The amateur foil competition had 54 fencers from 10Mallon's count of 8 is based on Corvington and Smet being labelled French in the first round and quarterfinals of Mallon's book; Mallon correctly has Smet as Belgian in the semifinals and final. Adding Belgium and Haiti gives the 9th and 10th nations. nations compete. There was no limit on the number of fencers per nation; 39 of the 54 competitors were French. For the first round, quarterfinals, and repechage, skill and art with the foil was more important to advancing than winning the bout. The event was swept by French fencers: Émile Coste, Henri Masson, and Marcel Boulenger took the top three places. It was the second consecutive Games that France had taken the top two ranks in the event.
Background
This was the second 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). None of the fencers from 1896 returned.
Nine of the ten competing nations were making their debut in the men's foil: Austria, Belgium, Haiti, Italy, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Only France had previously competed in 1896.
Competition format
The event used a five-round format (four main rounds and a repechage). For the first three rounds (round 1, quarterfinals, repechage) the round consisted of the fencers being paired and fighting a single bout; jury evaluations of skill rather than the match results were used to determine advancement. The last two rounds (semifinals and finals) used round-robin pool play with actual results counting toward placement. Standard foil rules were used, including that touches had to be made with the tip of the foil, the target area was limited to the torso, and priority determined the winner of double touches.
Round 1: The 54 fencers paired off and faced a single opponent in one bout. The jury selected 37 fencers to advance to the quarterfinals. Quarterfinals: The 37 fencers were paired off again, with one fencer having no opponent. Three men withdrew, cancelling one bout altogether and resulting in one fencer fencing twice. The jury selected 10 fencers for the semifinals and 14 more for the repechage. Repechage: The 14 fencers selected from the quarterfinals were paired. The jury selected 6 of them to advance. When one qualified fencer withdrew, a 7th fencer was advanced from the repechage. Semifinals: The 16 fencers from the quarterfinals and repechage were divided into two pools of 8 fencers each. Each pool played a round robin. The top four fencers in each semifinal pool advanced to the final, while the bottom four fencers went to a classification 9–16 final. Finals: There was a main final (top 4 from each semifinal) and a classification 9–16 final (bottom 4 from each semifinal). Each was conducted as a round-robin.
Schedule
Date Time Round Monday, 14 May 1900 Round 1 bouts 1–18 Tuesday, 15 May 1900 Round 1 bouts 19–27 Wednesday, 16 May 1900 Quarterfinals Thursday, 17 May 1900 Repechage Friday, 18 May 1900 Semifinals Saturday, 19 May 1900 Semifinals continued Monday, 21 May 1900 10:00 Finals
Results
Round 1
Each fencer had one bout. The result of the bout did not determine advancement; a jury determined which fencers displayed the most skill. The winner of each bout is unknown. 37 fencers advanced to the quarterfinals. Bouts 1 through 18 were held on 14 May; bouts 19 through 27 were held on 15 May.
Bout Fencer 1 Nation 1 Notes 1 Fencer 2 Nation 2 Notes 2 1 Mauricio, 4th Duke of Gor Félix Debax 2 Georges Dillon-Kavanagh Paul Robert 3 Carlos de Candamo Albert Cahen 4 Henri Masson Olivier Collarini 5 Robert Marc G. Bélot 6 Martini Henri Jobier 7 Tony Smet Charles Guérin 8 Ferrand Joseph Sénat 9 Jean Taillefer Grossard 10 Calvet Emil Fick 11 Adrien Guyon Palardi 12 Jactel Giuseppe Giurato 13 Clément de Boissière Gardiès 14 Léon Thiébaut F. Weill 15 Giunio Fedreghini Piot 16 Heinrich Rischtoff Pélabon 17 Jean Weill Passerat 18 André Corvington Édouard Fouchier 19 Pierre Georges Louis d'Hugues Émile Coste 20 Rudolf Brosch Marcel Boulenger 21 H. Valarche de Saint-Aignan 22 Henri Plommet van der Stoppen 23 Raphaël Perrissoud Frédéric Soudois 24 Joseph Ducrot Albert Gauthier 25 André de Schonen Paul Leroy 26 Jean-Joseph Renaud Eugène Bergès 27 Wattelier Herman Georges Berger
Quarterfinals
Again, jury verdicts were used in place of match results to determine those advancing to the semifinals. 10 fencers were selected to advance to the semifinals directly, while 14 were sent to the repechage. Three fencers withdrew. Cahan fenced twice, while Sénat did not fence at all.
Bout Fencer 1 Nation 1 Notes 1 Fencer 2 Nation 2 Notes 2 1 Jean-Joseph Renaud Félix Debax 2 Clément de Boissière Adrien Guyon 3 Henri Masson Carlos de Candamo 4 Tony Smet de Saint-Aignan 5 Charles Guérin Eugène Bergès 6 André de Schonen Henri Plommet 7 Émile Coste Paul Robert 8 Marcel Boulenger Albert Cahen 9 Joseph Ducrot Jactel 10 Georges Dillon-Kavanagh Raphaël Perrissoud 11 Rudolf Brosch H. Valarche 12 G. Bélot Calvet 13 Ferrand Robert Marc 14 Jean Taillefer Martini 15 Léon Thiébaut Mauricio, 4th Duke of Gor 16 Henri Jobier Olivier Collarini 17 Pierre Georges Louis d'Hugues Albert Cahen 18 Joseph Sénat Walkover — Soudois Did not start van der Stoppen Wattelier
Repechage
The matchups in the repechage are not known. Once again, jury verdicts rather than match results mattered. 6 fencers were selected to advance to the semifinals. De Saint-Agnan was selected as an alternate, later competing in the consolation final after the withdrawal of Renaud.
Fencer Nation Notes G. Bélot Eugène Bergès Rudolf Brosch Georges Dillon-Kavanagh Pierre Georges Louis d'Hugues Joseph Sénat de Saint-Aignan Carlos de Candamo Ferrand Henri Jobier Henri Plommet André de Schonen Jean Taillefer Léon Thiébaut
Semifinals
The semifinals were the first round of the foil tournament to use match results in determining advancement. The 16 fencers were divided into two pools. Each fencer then faced each other fencer in his pool once. The four fencers with the best record in each pool moved on to the finals, with the other four competing in the consolation. A barrage was used to break a tie between 4th and 5th place.
Semifinal A
Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes 1 Émile Coste 7 0 2 Henri Masson 5 2 3 Joseph Sénat 5 2 4 Rudolf Brosch 3 4 5 Charles Guérin 3 4 6 Clément de Boissière 2 5 7 G. Bélot 2 5 8 Tony Smet 1 6
Semifinal B
The win–loss record of fencers in this semifinal is not known.
Rank Fencer Nation Notes 1 Marcel Boulenger 2 Félix Debax 3 Pierre Georges Louis d'Hugues 4 Georges Dillon-Kavanagh 5 Jean-Joseph Renaud 6 Adrien Guyon 7 Joseph Ducrot 8 Eugène Bergès
Finals
Classification 9–16
The eight fencers who had placed in the bottom four of each pool in the semifinals competed for 9th to 16th places in the consolation pool. Renaud withdrew, making room for de Saint-Aignan to be activated from alternate status. The win–loss record of fencers in this pool is not known.
Rank Fencer Nation 9 Clément de Boissière 10 Eugène Bergès 11 de Saint-Aignan 12 G. Bélot 13 Joseph Ducrot 14 Tony Smet 15 Adrien Guyon 16 Charles Guérin
Final
The final was held on 21 May 1900. The top four fencers in each of the two semifinals competed against each other, each fencing the other seven once.
Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Émile Coste 6 1 Henri Masson 5 2 Marcel Boulenger 4 3 4 Félix Debax 4 3 5 Pierre Georges Louis d'Hugues 3 4 6 Joseph Sénat 3 4 7 Georges Dillon-Kavanagh 2 5 8 Rudolf Brosch 1 6
Final classification
Rank Fencer Nation Notes Émile Coste Final Henri Masson Final Marcel Boulenger Final 4 Félix Debax Final 5 Pierre Georges Louis d'Hugues Final 6 Joseph Sénat Final 7 Georges Dillon-Kavanagh Final 8 Rudolf Brosch Final 9 Clément de Boissière Classification 9–16 10 Eugène Bergès Classification 9–16 11 de Saint-Aignan Classification 9–16 12 G. Bélot Classification 9–16 13 Joseph Ducrot Classification 9–16 14 Tony Smet Classification 9–16 15 Adrien Guyon Classification 9–16 16 Charles Guérin Classification 9–16 17 Jean-Joseph Renaud Withdrew before semifinals 18 Carlos de Candamo Repechage Ferrand Repechage Henri Jobier Repechage Henri Plommet Repechage André de Schonen Repechage Jean Taillefer Repechage Léon Thiébaut Repechage 25 Paul Robert Quarterfinals Albert Cahen Quarterfinals Jactel Quarterfinals Raphaël Perrissoud Quarterfinals H. Valarche Quarterfinals Calvet Quarterfinals Robert Marc Quarterfinals Martini Quarterfinals Mauricio, 4th Duke of Gor Quarterfinals Olivier Collarini Quarterfinals 35 Soudois Withdrew before quarterfinals van der Stoppen Withdrew before quarterfinals Wattelier Withdrew before quarterfinals 38 Grossard Round 1 Emil Fick Round 1 Palardi Round 1 Giuseppe Giurato Round 1 Gardiès Round 1 F. Weill Round 1 Giunio Fedreghini Round 1 Piot Round 1 Heinrich Rischtoff Round 1 Pélabon Round 1 Jean Weill Round 1 Passerat Round 1 André Corvington Round 1 Édouard Fouchier Round 1 Albert Gauthier Round 1 Paul Leroy Round 1 Herman Georges Berger Round 1
References