Fencing at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's foil


The men's foil was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1960 Summer Olympics programme. It was the thirteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 29 – 30 August 1960. 78 fencers from 31 nations competed.

Competition format

The competition used a pool play format, with each fencer facing the other fencers in the pool in a round robin. Bouts were to 5 touches. It is unclear how ties were broken in the first round; beginning in round 2, barrages were used to break ties necessary for advancement. However, only as much fencing was done as was necessary to determine advancement, so some bouts never occurred if the fencers advancing from the pool could be determined. The competition involved 5 rounds:

Round 1

The top three fencers in each pool advanced.

Round 1 Pool A

Round 1 Pool B

Round 1 Pool C

Round 1 Pool D

Round 1 Pool E

Round 1 Pool F

Round 1 Pool G

Round 1 Pool H

Round 1 Pool I

Saev of Bulgaria did not start, leaving this pool with only 5 fencers.

Round 1 Pool J

Round 1 Pool K

Round 1 Pool L

Round 2

Round 2 Pool A

The fifth round of the pool was cancelled entirely, as it was clear who the four advancing would be; each fencer thus faced only 4 others.

Round 2 Pool B

Round 2 Pool C

Round 2 Pool D

Round 2 Pool E

Round 2 Pool F

There was a 4-way tie for 3rd place, requiring a barrage for the last two advancement places.
; Barrage

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal A

There was a four-way tie for 3rd place; a barrage was held to determine the final advancing fencer.
; Barrage

Quarterfinal B

Carpaneda and d'Oriola tied for the 3rd and final advancement place at 3–2, so fenced off for the spot. Carpaneda had won the initial round-robin bout, but d'Oriola won the fence-off and advanced.
; Barrage

Quarterfinal C

Quarterfinal D

With a three-way tie for 2nd place, a barrage was needed to determine two advancement spots.
; Barrage

Semifinals

Semifinal A

In a very closely contested semifinal, each fencer finished either 3–2 or 2–3. With a three-way tie for 4th place, a barrage was needed to determine the final advancement spot.
; Barrage

Semifinal B

Hoskyns and Różycki tied for 4th at 2–3. In the barrage, Hoskyns was victorious, repeating his 5–1 win over Różycki in the round-robin.
; Barrage

Final

After a 3–2 record in the semifinals, Zhdanovich swept the entire field in the final and finished 7–0 for the gold medal. The next closest fencer and thus silver medalist, Sisikin, went 4–2. Closset dislocated his right knee and was unable to finish the round; his bouts against Sisikin, Axelrod, and Woyda were cancelled. The three men tied for third place at 3 wins faced off in a barrage for the bronze medal; Axelrod won by beating both of the other hopefuls. Despite only competing in four bouts, Closset finished in a tie for 6th at 2 wins, winning the tie-breaker against Hoskyns.
; Barrage

Overall standings