The men's team épée was one of four fencing events on the Fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme in London. The event was won by the French team, who also swept the medals in the individual épée event. Each nation could enter a team of up to 8 fencers, with 4 fencers chosen for each match.Official Report, p. 34.
Competition format
The tournament used a variant of the Bergvall system, holding a single elimination bracket for the gold medal with a repechage ending in a match for silver and bronze. Each match featured 4 fencers from one team facing 4 fencers from the other team, for a total of 16 individual bouts. Bouts were to 1 touch, with double-touches counting against both fencers.
With 9 teams, the main bracket consisted of a single "play-in" match in what would typically be considered the round of 16, followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Teams defeated by the gold medalist in the main bracket moved to the repechage. With 3 teams in the repechage, a repechage "semifinal" and "final" (which awarded the silver medal to the winner and bronze medal to the loser) were held.
Results
Main bracket
Play-in match
The first bout was a play-in match between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Winners Losers Nation Fencers Hits against Hits against Fencers Nation Leaf Daniell Martin Holt Robert Montgomerie Edgar Seligman 7 9 Jetze Doorman Adrianus de Jong Alfred Labouchere George van Rossem
First round
Winners advanced, losers out. The team that was defeated by the eventual champions moved to the repechage.
Winners Losers Nation Fencers Hits against Hits against Fencers Nation Marcelo Bertinetti Giuseppe Mangiarotti Riccardo Nowak Abelardo Olivier 7 12 Otakar Lada Vlastimil Lada-Sázavský Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf Vilém Tvrzský Gaston Alibert Bernard Gravier Alexandre Lippmann Jean Stern 6 10 Ejnar Levison Ivan Osiier Lauritz Østrup Herbert Sander Paul Anspach Désiré Beaurain Fernand de Montigny Victor Willems 6 11 Eric Carlberg Gustaf Lindblom Henry Peyron Pontus von Rosen Leaf Daniell Cecil Haig Martin Holt Robert Montgomerie 5 13 Jakob Erkrath de Bary Julius Lichtenfels August Petri Georg Stöhr
Semifinals
Winners advanced to play for the gold medal, loser to eventual champion was sent to repechage.
Winners Losers Nation Fencers Hits against Hits against Fencers Nation Gaston Alibert Henri-Georges Berger Charles Collignon Eugène Olivier 5 12 Leaf Daniell Cecil Haig Martin Holt Robert Montgomerie Paul Anspach Désiré Beaurain Ferdinand Feyerick François Rom 8 9 Marcelo Bertinetti Giuseppe Mangiarotti Riccardo Nowak Abelardo Olivier
Final
The winner received the gold medal, while the loser had to play the winner of the repechage in the silver medal match.
Winners Losers Nation Fencers Hits against Hits against Fencers Nation Gaston Alibert Bernard Gravier Alexandre Lippmann Eugène Olivier 7 9 Paul Anspach Désiré Beaurain Ferdinand Feyerick François Rom
Repechage
Round 1
Denmark and Great Britain had been defeated by France, the winner of the final, in the first two rounds. The two teams faced each other for the right to advance to the silver medal match against the loser of the final.
Winners Losers Nation Fencers Hits against Hits against Fencers Nation Leaf Daniell Cecil Haig Martin Holt Robert Montgomerie 8 9 Otto Becker Ejnar Levison Ivan Osiier Herbert Sander
Silver medal match
The winner took the silver medal, with loser receiving bronze. The final three individual bouts of the match were not played, as Belgium was then down by 4 and unable to tie up the contest. Under Rule 50 of the competition, the decision whether to continue or not was given to the Belgian team captain,Official Report, p. 443 who elected not to finish the contest.
Winners Losers Nation Fencers Hits against Hits against Fencers Nation Edgar Amphlett Leaf Daniell Cecil Haig Robert Montgomerie 5 9 Paul Anspach Fernand Bosmans Fernand de Montigny François Rom
References
Sources
De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Fencing 1908". Accessed 1 May 2006. Available electronically at .