The foil event for professionals involved 61 fencers from 7 nations. It was held from 22 to 29 May. The event as won by Lucien Mérignac, as France swept the top three places. Alphonse Kirchhoffer and Jean-Baptiste Mimiague were second and third, respectively.
Background
This was the second and final appearance of the event. Fencing masters were an exception to the amateurs-only nature of the early Olympics. Masters fencing was held as an Olympic event in 1896 (men's foil only) and 1900 (all three weapons for men, as well as a special event in épée that pitted the top professionals against the top amateurs). By 1904, only amateur events were conducted.
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 61 fencers paired off and faced a single opponent in one bout. The jury selected 45 fencers to advance to the quarterfinals. Quarterfinals: The 45 fencers were paired off again. The jury selected 10 fencers for the semifinals. All the rest went to the repechage. Repechage: The 35 fencers were paired. The jury selected 6 of them to advance. 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 Tuesday, 22 May 1900 Round 1 Wednesday, 23 May 1900 Round 1 continued Thursday, 24 May 1900 Quarterfinals Friday, 25 May 1900 Repechage Sunday, 27 May 1900 Semifinals Monday, 28 May 1900 Semifinals continued Tuesday, 29 May 1900 Finals
Results
Round 1
Held on 22 May and 23 May, the masters foil used jury verdicts on art and skill in the bout rather than winning or losing to advance to the second round.
Fencer Nation Notes Xavier Anchetti Alexandre Bergès Michel Bettenfeld Bormel Jean-Marie Borringes Marcel Boulenger Jean Boulège J. Brassard Brau Cannesson Paul Carrichon Antonio Conte François Delibes Dizier Michel Filippi Joseph Fontaine Louis Gauthier Louis Haller Alphonse Kirchhoffer Ludovic Laborderie Jules Large Lucien Largé Georges Lefèvre Adjutant Lemoine Charles Marty Lucien Mérignac Joseph-Auguste Métais Lucien Millet Jean-Baptiste Mimiague Marcel Montuel Muller Henri Pantin Léopold Ramus René Raynaud Jules Ringnet Jules Rossignol Adolphe Rouleau Francis Sabourin Pierre Samiac Italo Santelli Pierre Selderslagh Ernest Tassart Cyrille Verbrugge Armand Viguier Henri Yvon Charles Bersin Jens Peter Berthelsen Émile Bouard François Brun-Buisson Henri Coquelin Louis Coudurier Georges Daussy F. Després Márton Endrédy Louis Garnoty Jolliet Gustave Masselin Pietory Eugène Plisson Léon Thiércelin Wineuwanheim
Quarterfinals
The second round also used jury verdicts to determine advancement from the second round, held on 24 May. The top 10 fencers received automatic qualification to the semifinals while the rest competed in a repechage.
Fencer Nation Notes Antonio Conte Alphonse Kirchhoffer Lucien Mérignac Jean-Baptiste Mimiague Léopold Ramus Jules Rossignol Adolphe Rouleau Italo Santelli Pierre Selderslagh Cyrille Verbrugge Xavier Anchetti Alexandre Bergès Michel Bettenfeld Bormel Jean-Marie Borringes Marcel Boulenger Jean Boulège J. Brassard Brau Cannesson Paul Carrichon François Delibes Dizier Michel Filippi Joseph Fontaine Louis Gauthier Louis Haller Ludovic Laborderie Jules Large Lucien Largé Georges Lefèvre Adjutant Lemoine Charles Marty Joseph-Auguste Métais Lucien Millet Marcel Montuel Muller Henri Pantin René Raynaud Jules Ringnet Francis Sabourin Pierre Samiac Ernest Tassart Armand Viguier Henri Yvon
Repechage
The repechage on 25 May was also conducted by jury selection following bouts. 6 fencers advanced to the semifinals.
Fencer Nation Notes Marcel Boulenger Michel Filippi Louis Haller Lefèvre Adjutant Lemoine Lucien Millet Xavier Anchetti Alexandre Bergès Michel Bettenfeld Bormel Jean-Marie Borringes Jean Boulège J. Brassard Brau Cannesson Paul Carrichon François Delibes Dizier Joseph Fontaine Louis Gauthier Ludovic Laborderie Jules Large Lucien Largé Charles Marty Joseph-Auguste Métais Marcel Montuel Muller Henri Pantin René Raynaud Jules Ringnet Francis Sabourin Pierre Samiac Ernest Tassart Armand Viguier Henri Yvon
Semifinals
The 16 remaining fencers were divided into two pools of 8. They competed in round-robin tournaments on 27 May and 28 May, with the top four in each pool advancing to the final. The others played in the consolation pool.
Semifinal A
Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes 1 Lucien Mérignac 7 0 2 Alphonse Kirchhoffer 6 1 3 Antonio Conte 5 2 4 Léopold Ramus 4 3 5 Louis Haller 2 5 Adjutant Lemoine 2 5 7 Lucien Millet 1 6 Cyrille Verbrugge 1 6
Semifinal B
Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Notes 1 Adolphe Rouleau 7 0 2 Jean-Baptiste Mimiague 6 1 3 Jules Rossignol 5 2 4 Italo Santelli 4 3 5 Pierre Selderslagh 3 4 6 Marcel Boulenger 1 6 Michel Filippi 1 6 Georges Lefèvre 1 6
Finals
Classification 9–16
The consolation pool was held on 29 May. The bottom four fencers from each of the semifinals competed for 9th through 16th places.
Rank Fencer Nation 9 Louis Haller 10 Pierre Selderslagh 11 Adjutant Lemoine 12 Georges Lefèvre 13 Marcel Boulenger 14 Lucien Millet 15 Cyrille Verbrugge 16 Michel Filippi
Final
The final was conducted on 29 May. The format was a round-robin among the top 8 fencers. Ties were broken by an extra bout (ignoring the head-to-head results of the fencers during the round-robin).
Rank Fencer Nation Wins Losses Lucien Mérignac 6 1 Alphonse Kirchhoffer 6 1 Jean-Baptiste Mimiague 4 3 4 Antonio Conte 4 3 5 Jules Rossignol 3 4 6 Léopold Ramus 2 5 7 Italo Santelli 0 7 8 Adolphe RouleauRouleau was given 8th place because he did not finish his final bout. 3 4
Notes