Dates July 17–24 | Competitors 85 from 12 nations | |
Venue Franco-British Exhibition fencing grounds | ||
The men's épée was one of four fencing events on the Fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. The medals were swept by the French fencers, who also took the gold medal in the team épée event.
Contents
First round
The first round was conducted in round-robin format, to one touch. Pool sizes ranged from 5 to 8 fencers. Double-touches counted against both fencers. The three contestants who had been struck the fewest times advanced.
Pool A
Fildes and von Rosen had a double-touch, as did Stöhr and Fildes.
Pool B
Double-touches were between Gates and van Schreven, Jack and Gates, and Collignon and van Schreven.
Pool C
Blake and Dwinger had the only double-touch in this six-man pool.
Pool D
The fourth pool had 8 fencers. Berger was clearly the best of the crowd, going untouched in his seven bouts. When five different fencers tied for second place at 4 touches against apiece, a playoff round-robin was held. The first playoff eliminated only one fencer, with the remaining four again tying and forcing a second playoff. That round resulted in Holt and Tvrzský tying at 1 touch apiece, eliminating the other two fencers.
Bergsland was hit three times, finishing sixth overall in the pool while the other four fencers in the playoff each received two hits to advance to a second playoff.
Holt and Tvrzský tied for an overall second-place finish in the pool with one touch against apiece (Tvrzský won the bout between the two, but was himself hit by Diana). Becker and Diana placed fourth.
Pool E
The fifth pool also included 8 fencers, but did not require a playoff. The only touch against Alibert came in a double-touch with van Löben Sels.
Pool F
The sixth competition pool was smaller, with only 6 fencers.
Pool G
The Official Report says only that Bosmans defeated Dubourdieu and Schön in the playoff, without giving further detail.
Pool H
The single bout between Rodocanachi and Chalmers to break the tie for third resulted in a win for the Frenchman.
Pool I
The ninth pool was the first of the second day of competition, 18 July.
Mangiarotti was defeated in the three-way playoff for the two remaining advancement spots.
Pool K
The eleventh pool was the smallest, with only 5 fencers.
In the playoff for the second and third spots, le Blon won with Haig taking the final spot. Okker was eliminated.
Pool M
The final pool also had only 5 fencers.
Second round
Seven of the eight second round pools had 5 fencers, with the eighth having only 4. 2 advanced to the semifinals from each pool.
Pool 1
Doorman again lost to Stern in the playoff bout.
Pool 2
Renard won the playoff pool, with no further details given in the Official Report.
Pool 3
Alibert continued on his perfect streak, winning four more bouts untouched.
Berger won the playoff, defeating von Lobsdorf again.
Pool 4
Montgomerie won against Gravier and Tvrzský in the three-way playoff for the second semifinal spot.
Pool 7
Labouchere won the three-way playoff for second place and a semifinal spot.
Semifinals
There were two semifinals, each of 8 fencers. The top 4 in each advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
Alibert was hit twice, both in double-touches.
Final
The final resulted in Alibert taking the championship after again hitting all opponents, though he suffered another pair of double-touches. There was a three-way tie for second place between two Frenchman and Montgomerie of the British team.
The playoff pool for second and third resulted in wins for the two French fencers, completing France's medal sweep in the event.