Fencing at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's épée

Men's épée at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Fencing pictogram
Venue	CEPSUM
Dates	22–23 July 1976
Competitors	64 from 26 nations
Medalists
Alexander Pusch  West Germany Hans-Jürgen Hehn  West Germany Győző Kulcsár  Hungary
← 1972 1980 →

Fencing at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Épée	men
Team épée	men
Foil	men	women
Team foil	men	women
Sabre	men
Team sabre	men
v t e

The men's épée was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1976 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventeenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 22 to 23 July 1976. 64 fencers from 26 nations competed.^[1] Each nation was limited to 3 fencers. The event came down to a three-way barrage among the medalists, with two West German fencers joining Győző Kulcsár of Hungary (who had previously won gold in 1968 and bronze in 1972) in this tie-breaker fencing session. Alexander Pusch won against both opponents in the barrage to take gold, with Hans-Jürgen Hehn defeating Kulcsár for silver. The medals were the first for West Germany in the men's individual épée. Kulcsár's bronze made him the second man to earn three medals in the event (Edoardo Mangiarotti in 1948–1956, also with a gold and two bronzes, was the first).

This was the 17th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Games in 1896 (with only foil and sabre events held) but has been held at every Summer Olympics since 1900.^[2]

Five of the six finalists (including the three medalists) from the 1972 Games returned: gold medalist Csaba Fenyvesi of Hungary, silver medalist Jacques Ladègaillerie of France, bronze medalist (and 1968 gold medalist) Győző Kulcsár of Hungary, fourth-place finisher Anton Pongratz of Romania, and fifth-place finisher Rolf Edling of Sweden. The previous four years had seen the rise of Sweden and West Germany in the event; Edling had won the 1973 and 1974 World Championships; Alexander Pusch of West Germany was the reigning (1975) World Champion.^[2]

Thailand made its debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 16th time, most among nations, having missed only the 1908 edition of the event.

The 1976 tournament returned to a mix of pool and knockout rounds similar to that used in 1968, after the 1972 edition briefly used a pool-only format. The competition included three pool rounds, followed by a double-elimination knockout round, finishing with a final pool round. In each pool round, the fencers competed in a round-robin.

Bouts in the round-robin pools were to 5 touches; bouts in the double-elimination round were to 10 touches. Repechages were not used in the first three rounds, but were used to determine medalists if necessary in the final.

• Round 1: 12 pools of 5 or 6 fencers each. The top 3 in each pool (36 total) advanced.
• Round 2: 6 pools of 6 fencers each. The top 4 in each pool (24 total) advanced.
• Round 3: 4 pools of 6 fencers each. The top 4 in each pool (16 total) advanced.
• Elimination rounds: A double-elimination tournament. The 4 fencers who won in both of the first two rounds advanced, as did the 2 fencers who reached the end of the repechage.
• Final round: 1 pool of 6 fencers.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date	Time	Round
Thursday, 22 July 1976	8:30 11:00 15:00 18:00	Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Elimination rounds
Friday, 23 July 1976	18:00	Final

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		RJ	AP	JP	GT	JDP
1	Ralph Johnson (GBR)	3	1	19	7	Q			5–1	4–5	5–1	5–0
2	Alexander Pusch (FRG)	3	1	16	8			1–5		5–2	5–0	5–1
3	John Pezza (ITA)	3	1	17	13			5–4	2–5		5–2	5–2
4	Geza Tatrallyay (CAN)	1	3	8	16			1–5	0–5	2–5		5–1
5	Juan Daniel Pirán (ARG)	0	4	4	20			0–5	1–5	2–5	1–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		HJ	BL	HJH	DF	GV
1	Hans Jacobson (SWE)	3	1	17	8	Q			2–5	5–1	5–1	5–1
2	Boris Lukomsky (URS)	2	2	18	15			5–2		5–3	4–5	4–5
3	Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)	2	2	14	12			1–5	3–5		5–1	5–1
4	Daniel Feraud (ARG)	2	2	12	19			1–5	5–4	1–5		5.1–5
5	George Varaljay (CAN)	1	3	12	19			1–5	5–4	1–5	5–5.1

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		TS	IO	NG	TB	AD
1	Thierry Soumagne (BEL)	3	1	17	12	Q			5–2	5–3	5–2	2–5
2	István Osztrics (HUN)	2	2	15	14			2–5		3–5	5–2	5–2
3	Nicola Granieri (ITA)	2	2	16	15			3–5	5–3		3–5	5–2
4	Tim Belson (GBR)	2	2	14	14			2–5	2–5	5–3		5–1
5	Alain Dansereau (CAN)	1	3	10	17			5–2	2–5	2–5	1–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		HL	JJ	GB	JL	VS
1	Herbert Lindner (AUT)	3	1	17	10	Q			5–0	2–5	5–3	5–2
2	Jerzy Janikowski (POL)	3	1	15	16			0–5		5–3	5–4	5–4
3	Greg Benko (AUS)	2	2	18	13			5–2	3–5		5–5	5–1
4	Jacques Ladègaillerie (FRA)	1	3	17	16			3–5	4–5	5–5		5–1
5	Veikko Salminen (FIN)	0	4	8	20			2–5	4–5	1–5	1–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		RB	AP	AA	AB	KR
1	Reinhold Behr (FRG)	2	2	19	14	Q			5–4	5–5	4–5	5–0
2	Anton Pongratz (ROU)	2	2	19	15			4–5		5–5	5–4	5–1
3	Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS)	2	2	20	16			5–5	5–5		5–4	5–2
4	Arthur Ribeiro (BRA)	2	2	18	16			5–4	4–5	4–5		5–2
5	Kam Roger (HKG)	0	4	5	20			0–5	1–5	2–5	2–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		AB	CK	GF	SB	JI
1	Aleksandr Bykov (URS)	3	1	16	10	Q			1–5	5–3	5–1	5–1
2	Christian Kauter (SUI)	3	1	17	12			5–1		5–4	2–5	5–2
3	Göran Flodström (SWE)	2	2	17	15			3–5	4–5		5–2	5–3
4	Scotty Bozek (USA)	2	2	13	15			1–5	5–2	2–5		5–3
5	Juan Inostroza (CHI)	0	4	9	20			1–5	2–5	3–5	3–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		FS	OV	RE	MW	EZ
1	François Suchanecki (SUI)	3	1	16	11	Q			1–5	5–4	5–1	5–1
2	Omar Vergara (ARG)	3	1	16	14			5–1		1–5	5–4	5–4
3	Rolf Edling (SWE)	2	2	17	11			4–5	5–1		3–5	5–0
4	Marceli Wiech (POL)	2	2	15	16			1–5	4–5	5–3		5–3
5	Esfandihar Zarnegar (IRI)	0	4	8	20			1–5	4–5	0–5	3–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		TB	NK	SA	GM	SC	MB
1	Teddy Bourne (GBR)	4	1	23	12	Q			3–5	5–0	5–3	5–2	5–2
2	Nils Koppang (NOR)	3	2	22	16			5–3		4–5	3–5	5–1	5–2
3	Sarkis Assatourian (IRI)	3	2	17	20			0–5	5–4		2–5	5–4	5–2
4	George Masin (USA)	2	3	17	20			3–5	5–3	5–2		3–5	1–5
4	Sneh Chousurin (THA)	2	3	17	20			2–5	1–5	4–5	5–3		5–2
6	Marcello Bertinetti (ITA)	1	4	13	21			2–5	2–5	2–5	5–1	2–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		NI	JN	DG	RS	ID	RH
1	Nicolae Iorgu (ROU)	4	1	24	14	Q			4–5	5–3	5–1	5–2	5–3
2	Jeppe Normann (NOR)	4	1	24	17			5–4		5–4	4–5	5–3	5–1
3	Daniel Giger (SUI)	3	2	22	16			3–5	4–5		5–4	5–1	5–1
4	Robert Schiel (LUX)	2	3	19	22			1–5	5–4	4–5		4–5	5–3
5	Iraj Dastgerdi (IRI)	2	3	16	20			2–5	3–5	1–5	5–4		5–1
6	Rubén Hernández (PUR)	0	5	9	25			3–5	1–5	1–5	3–5	1–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		ZM	KHM	OM	DG	SS
1	Zbigniew Matwiejew (POL)	3	1	19	10	Q			5–3	5–2	4–5	5–0
2	Karl-Heinz Müller (AUT)	3	1	18	12			3–5		5–2	5–2	5–3
3	Ole Mørch (NOR)	2	2	14	15			2–5	2–5		5–1	5–4
4	Roger Menghi (LUX)	2	2	13	17			5–4	2–5	1–5		5–3
5	Sutipong Santitevagul (THA)	0	4	10	20			0–5	3–5	4–5	3–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		GK	PB	PZW	BM	TH	DC
1	Győző Kulcsár (HUN)	4	1	21	16	Q			5–2	1–5	5–3	5–2	5–4
2	Philippe Boisse (FRA)	4	1	22	17			2–5		5–4	5–4	5–3	5–1
3	Peter Zobl-Wessely (AUT)	3	2	23	17			5–1	4–5		5–3	4–5	5–3
4	Brooke Makler (USA)	2	3	20	16			3–5	4–5	3–5		5–1	5–0
5	Taweewat Hurapan (THA)	2	3	16	19			2–5	3–5	5–4	1–5		5–0
6	Denis Cunningham (HKG)	0	5	8	25			4–5	1–5	3–5	0–5	0–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		PS	JJ	CF	PR	GP	CM
1	Paul Szabo (ROU)	5	0	25	9	Q			5–3	5–4	5–1	5–1	5–0
2	Jaroslav Jurka (TCH)	3	2	22	17			3–5		4–5	5–4	5–3	5–0
3	Csaba Fenyvesi (HUN)	3	2	21	17			4–5	5–4		2–5	5–1	5–2
4	Philippe Riboud (FRA)	3	2	20	17			1–5	4–5	5–2		5–2	5–3
5	Gilberto Peña (PUR)	1	4	12	22			1–5	3–5	1–5	2–5		5–2
6	Chan Matthew (HKG)	0	5	7	25			0–5	0–5	2–5	3–5	2–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		CF	PS	AB	KHM	OM	SA
1	Csaba Fenyvesi (HUN)	4	1	25	15	Q			5–2	5–3	5–2	5–5	5–3
2	Paul Szabo (ROU)	4	1	22	16			2–5		5–3	5–4	5–2	5–2
3	Aleksandr Bykov (URS)	3	2	21	17			3–5	3–5		5–3	5–1	5–3
4	Karl-Heinz Müller (AUT)	2	3	19	22			2–5	4–5	3–5		5–3	5–4
5	Ole Mørch (NOR)	1	4	16	22			5–5	2–5	1–5	3–5		5–2
6	Sarkis Assatourian (IRI)	0	5	14	25			3–5	2–5	3–5	4–5	2–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		RE	FS	JJ	NG	TB	HL
1	Rolf Edling (SWE)	4	1	25	9	Q			5–5	5–3	5–1	5–0	5–0
2	François Suchanecki (SUI)	4	1	25	19			5–5		5–3	5–4	5–4	5–3
3	Jaroslav Jurka (TCH)	2	3	20	19			3–5	3–5		5–3	4–5	5–1
4	Nicola Granieri (ITA)	2	3	18	21			1–5	4–5	3–5		5–2	5–4
5	Teddy Bourne (GBR)	2	3	16	21			0–5	4–5	5–4	2–5		5–2
6	Herbert Lindner (AUT)	0	5	10	25			0–5	3–5	1–5	4–5	2–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		AP	NI	IO	NK	GB	TS
1	Alexander Pusch (FRG)	4	1	23	13	Q			3–5	5–2	5–1	5–4	5–1
2	Nicolae Iorgu (ROU)	3	2	21	18			5–3		2–5	5–3	4–5	5–2
3	István Osztrics (HUN)	3	2	18	19			2–5	5–2		1–5	5–4	5–3
4	Nils Koppang (NOR)	2	3	18	17			1–5	3–5	5–1		4–5	5–1
5	Greg Benko (AUS)	2	3	20	23			4–5	5–4	4–5	5–4		2–5
6	Thierry Soumagne (BEL)	1	4	12	22			1–5	2–5	3–5	1–5	5–2

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		RB	GF	CK	JN	ZM	PZW
1	Reinhold Behr (FRG)	4	1	24	18	Q			5–3	4–5	5–4	5–3	5–3
2	Göran Flodström (SWE)	3	2	23	16			3–5		5–5	5–1	5–4	5–1
3	Christian Kauter (SUI)	3	2	22	17			5–4	5–5		2–5	5–2	5–1
4	Jeppe Normann (NOR)	3	2	20	18			4–5	1–5	5–2		5–4	5–2
5	Zbigniew Matwiejew (POL)	1	4	18	24			3–5	4–5	2–5	4–5		5–4
6	Peter Zobl-Wessely (AUT)	0	5	11	25			3–5	1–5	1–5	2–5	4–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		BL	HJ	GK	JP	DG	AP
1	Boris Lukomsky (URS)	4	1	24	14	Q			5–4	4–5	5–2	5–1	5–2
2	Hans Jacobson (SWE)	3	2	22	17			4–5		3–5	5–1	5–3	5–3
3	Győző Kulcsár (HUN)	3	2	20	21			5–4	5–3		3–5	2–5	5–4
4	John Pezza (ITA)	3	2	18	20			2–5	1–5	5–3		5–4	5–3
5	Daniel Giger (SUI)	2	3	18	17			1–5	3–5	5–2	4–5		5–0
6	Anton Pongratz (ROU)	0	5	12	25			2–5	3–5	4–5	3–5	0–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		HJH	PB	JJ	RJ	AA	OV
1	Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)	4	1	23	16	Q			5–1	3–5	5–4	5–4	5–2
2	Philippe Boisse (FRA)	4	1	21	18			1–5		5–4	5–3	5–4	5–2
3	Jerzy Janikowski (POL)	3	2	23	20			5–3	4–5		4–5	5–4	5–3
4	Ralph Johnson (GBR)	2	3	21	20			4–5	3–5	5–4		4–5	5–1
5	Aleksandr Abushakhmetov (URS)	2	3	22	22			4–5	4–5	4–5	5–4		5–3
6	Omar Vergara (ARG)	0	5	11	25			2–5	2–5	3–5	1–5	3–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		IO	RB	RE	PB	KHM	JN
1	István Osztrics (HUN)	5	0	25	6	Q			5–1	5–2	5–1	5–1	5–1
2	Reinhold Behr (FRG)	4	1	21	15			1–5		5–4	5–2	5–0	5–4
3	Rolf Edling (SWE)	3	2	21	16			2–5	4–5		5–3	5–1	5–2
4	Philippe Boisse (FRA)	2	3	16	22			1–5	2–5	3–5		5–4	5–3
5	Karl-Heinz Müller (AUT)	1	4	11	20			1–5	0–5	1–5	4–5		5–0
6	Jeppe Normann (NOR)	0	5	10	25			1–5	4–5	2–5	3–5	0–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		NI	GK	AP	GF	FS	NG
1	Nicolae Iorgu (ROU)	4	1	25	10	Q			5–1	5–1	5–5	5–1	5–2
2	Győző Kulcsár (HUN)	3	2	18	15			1–5		5–1	2–5	5–3	5–1
3	Alexander Pusch (FRG)	3	2	17	15			1–5	1–5		5–3	5–1	5–1
4	Göran Flodström (SWE)	2	3	23	18			5–5	5–2	3–5		5–1	5–5
5	François Suchanecki (SUI)	1	4	11	24			1–5	3–5	1–5	1–5		5–4
6	Nicola Granieri (ITA)	0	5	13	25			2–5	1–5	1–5	5–5	4–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		JP	HJ	RJ	JJ	BL	PS
1	John Pezza (ITA)	4	1	25	16	Q			5–5.1	5–4	5–2	5–1	5–4
2	Hans Jacobson (SWE)	4	1	24	17			5.1–5		5–4	4–5	5–1	5–2
3	Ralph Johnson (GBR)	2	3	20	22			4–5	4–5		5.1–5	5–2	2–5
4	Jerzy Janikowski (POL)	2	3	19	23			2–5	5–4	5–5.1		2–5	5–4
5	Boris Lukomsky (URS)	2	3	14	20			1–5	1–5	2–5	5–2		5–3
6	Paul Szabo (ROU)	1	4	18	22			4–5	2–5	5–2	4–5	3–5

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		CK	HJH	JJ	CF	NK	AB
1	Christian Kauter (SUI)	3	2	22	17	Q			3–5	4–5	5–3	5–1	5–3
2	Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)	3	2	21	18			5–3		5–3	2–5	4–5	5–2
3	Jaroslav Jurka (TCH)	3	2	22	20			5–4	3–5		5–4	5–2	4–5
3	Csaba Fenyvesi (HUN)	3	2	22	20			3–5	5–2	4–5		5–4	5–4
5	Nils Koppang (NOR)	2	3	17	23			1–5	5–4	2–5	4–5		5–4
6	Aleksandr Bykov (URS)	1	4	18	24			3–5	2–5	5–4	4–5	4–5

	Round of 16					Round of 8
	István Osztrics (HUN)		10
	Ralph Johnson (GBR)		5			István Osztrics (HUN)		10
	John Pezza (ITA)		10			John Pezza (ITA)		6
	Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)		6

	Round of 16					Round of 8
	Alexander Pusch (FRG)		10
	Győző Kulcsár (HUN)		5			Alexander Pusch (FRG)		10
	Göran Flodström (SWE)		10			Göran Flodström (SWE)		7
	Nicolae Iorgu (ROU)		10

	Round of 16					Round of 8
	Rolf Edling (SWE)		10
	Jaroslav Jurka (TCH)		8			Rolf Edling (SWE)		10
	Philippe Boisse (FRA)		7			Csaba Fenyvesi (HUN)		1
	Csaba Fenyvesi (HUN)		10

	Round of 16					Round of 8
	Hans Jacobson (SWE)		10
	Christian Kauter (SUI)		6			Hans Jacobson (SWE)		7
	Jerzy Janikowski (POL)		10			Jerzy Janikowski (POL)		10
	Reinhold Behr (FRG)		9

	Round of 4					Round of 4					Round of 2
	Ralph Johnson (GBR)		5
	Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)		10			Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)		10
						John Pezza (ITA)		4
											Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)		10
	Jaroslav Jurka (TCH)		10								Csaba Fenyvesi (HUN)		5
	Philippe Boisse (FRA)		10			Philippe Boisse (FRA)		8
						Csaba Fenyvesi (HUN)		10

	Round of 4					Round of 4					Round of 2
	Győző Kulcsár (HUN)		10
	Nicolae Iorgu (ROU)		8			Győző Kulcsár (HUN)		10
						Hans Jacobson (SWE)		7
											Győző Kulcsár (HUN)		10
	Christian Kauter (SUI)		6								Göran Flodström (SWE)		4
	Reinhold Behr (FRG)		10			Reinhold Behr (FRG)		2
						Göran Flodström (SWE)		10

The final pool was closely fought, with all six fencers at either 3–2 or 2–3. The three men who finished with three wins advanced to a barrage to determine the medals, while the three men who had only two wins in the pool were ranked by pool results. In the barrage, Pusch defeated both Kulcsár and Hehn to win the gold medal, with Hehn prevailing over Kulcsár to take silver.

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA	Notes		AP	HJH	GK	IO	JJ	RE
1	Alexander Pusch (FRG)	3	2	22	18	B			5–2	3–5	5–2	5–4	4–5
1	Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)	3	2	18	20			2–5		5–4	1–5	5–3	5–3
1	Győző Kulcsár (HUN)	3	2	22	19			5–3	4–5		3–5	5–3	5–3
4	István Osztrics (HUN)	2	3	18	19			2–5	5–1	5–3		4–5	2–5
5	Jerzy Janikowski (POL)	2	3	20	21			4–5	3–5	3–5	5–4		5–2
6	Rolf Edling (SWE)	2	3	18	21			5–4	3–5	3–5	5–2	2–5

Barrage

Pos	Fencer	W	L	TF	TA		AP	HJH	GK
	Alexander Pusch (FRG)	2	0	10	7			5–3	5–4
	Hans-Jürgen Hehn (FRG)	1	1	9	7		4–5		5–2
	Győző Kulcsár (HUN)	0	2	5	10		3–5	2–5

Rank	Fencer	Nation
1	Alexander Pusch	West Germany
2	Hans-Jürgen Hehn	West Germany
3	Győző Kulcsár	Hungary
4	István Osztrics	Hungary
5	Jerzy Janikowski	Poland
6	Rolf Edling	Sweden
7	Csaba Fenyvesi	Hungary
	Göran Flodström	Sweden
9	Hans Jacobson	Sweden
	John Pezza	Italy
	Reinhold Behr	West Germany
	Philippe Boisse	France
13	Nicolae Iorgu	Romania
	Christian Kauter	Switzerland
	Ralph Johnson	Great Britain
	Jaroslav Jurka	Czechoslovakia
17	Nils Koppang	Norway
18	Boris Lukomsky	Soviet Union
19	Paul Szabo	Romania
20	Aleksandr Bykov	Soviet Union
21	Karl-Heinz Müller	Austria
22	François Suchanecki	Switzerland
23	Nicola Granieri	Italy
24	Jeppe Normann	Norway
25	Daniel Giger	Switzerland
26	Aleksandr Abushakhmetov	Soviet Union
27	Greg Benko	Australia
28	Teddy Bourne	Great Britain
29	Zbigniew Matwiejew	Poland
30	Ole Mørch	Norway
31	Thierry Soumagne	Belgium
32	Sarkis Assatourian	Iran
33	Anton Pongratz	Romania
34	Peter Zobl-Wessely	Austria
	Omar Vergara	Argentina
36	Herbert Lindner	Austria
37	Philippe Riboud	France
38	Brooke Makler	United States
39	Arthur Ribeiro	Brazil
40	Tim Belson	Great Britain
41	Marceli Wiech	Poland
42	Scotty Bozek	United States
43	Robert Schiel	Luxembourg
44	George Masin	United States
	Sneh Chousurin	Thailand
46	Taweewat Hurapan	Thailand
47	Iraj Dastgerdi	Iran
48	Roger Menghi	Luxembourg
49	Daniel Feraud	Argentina
50	Jacques Ladègaillerie	France
51	George Varaljay	Canada
52	Marcello Bertinetti	Italy
53	Alain Dansereau	Canada
54	Gilberto Peña	Puerto Rico
55	Geza Tatrallyay	Canada
56	Sutipong Santitevagul	Thailand
57	Juan Inostroza	Chile
58	Veikko Salminen	Finland
	Esfandihar Zarnegar	Iran
60	Rubén Hernández	Puerto Rico
61	Denis Cunningham	Hong Kong
62	Chan Matthew	Hong Kong
63	Kam Roger	Hong Kong
64	Juan Daniel Pirán	Argentina