Fencing at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's épée explained

Event:	Men's épée
Games:	1900 Summer
Venue:	Tuileries Garden
Dates:	1–14 June
Competitors:	102
Nations:	11
Longnames:	yes
Gold:	Ramón Fonst
Goldnoc:	CUB
Silver:	Louis Perrée
Silvernoc:	FRA
Bronze:	Léon Sée
Bronzenoc:	FRA
Next:	1904

The épée event for amateurs was one of three épée events at the 1900 Summer Olympics. 102 fencers from 11 nations competed, with 91 of them from France.^[1] The event was won by Ramón Fonst of Cuba, the first of his two golds in individual épée. Silver and bronze both went to host nation fencers, Louis Perrée and Léon Sée. These badly organized games derisively called “The Farcical Games” were so poorly publicized that years later, even the competitors were clueless that they had competed in the Olympics in 1900.^[2] No official records for the games exist.^[2] These accomplishments are not even mentioned in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.^[3] This was the first appearance of the event, as only foil and sabre events had been held at the first Games in 1896; the Men's épée event has been held at every Summer Olympics since 1900.^[1]

Competition format

The event used a four-round format: round 1, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Each round consisted of pool play. For round 1, the fencers were divided into 17 pools of 6 or 7 fencers each; the top two fencers in each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals were intended to divide the 34 fencers into 6 pools of 5 or 6 fencers each; after 3 men withdrew, the round consisted of 5 pools of 6 fencers plus a special pool of the last remaining fencer plus 4 of the losers from the first 5 pools. The top 3 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals had the 18 men compete in 3 pools of 6, with the top 3 in each pool advancing to a 9-man final.

The actual competition format within pools is not entirely clear. Only results from the final are known. In the final, each fencer had 5 or 6 bouts (rather than 8, which would be the number if a full round-robin were held). The top places were determined by number of wins, with a barrage held when two fencers finished with 4 wins (though one had only 1 loss while the other had 2).^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Friday, 1 June 1900		Round 1 pools A–D
2–5 June 1900		Round 1 pools E–L
Wednesday, 6 June 1900		Round 1 pools M–Q
7–9 June 1900	9:00	Quarterfinals
Sunday, 10 June 1900		Semifinals
Wednesday, 13 June 1900		Final
Thursday, 14 June 1900		Final, continued

Results

Round 1

The first round of the event consisted of pool play round-robin tournaments. Each fencer faced each other fencer once. Of the 17 pools, 15 had six fencers each and 2 had seven. The top two placers in each advanced to the quarterfinals.

Pool A

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6
Luquetas
Mosso
André Tintant		/^[4]

Pool B

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2	Jean Dreyfus
3–6
Gardiès
Hérrison

Pool C

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6
Moreil

Véve

Pool D

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3		^[5]
4–6	Bazin

Pool E

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6
Grad
Massé
Achille Morin

Pool F

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6

Salvanahac
de Segonzac

Pool G

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3	Lariviére
4–6	Adam

Pool H

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6	de Lastic

Miller
	^[6]

Pool I

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6
de Laugardière

Pool J

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6

Pool K

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6

Fernandès
de la Tournable

Pool L

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3	Ducreuil
4–6	Andreac
Costiesco

Pool M

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6

de Meuse

Pool N

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–7	de Cazenove

de Pradines
Prosper

Pool O

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6

Peberay
Preurot

Pool P

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–7	Gaston Achille
Duclos

Fichot
Weber

Pool Q

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3–6	Delprat
Lafontaine
Adolphe Thomegeux
de Vars

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were again round-robin affairs. The original schedule was that there would be six pools: two would have five fencers each and four would have six fencers, with the top three in each pool to advance.

After three of the original quarterfinalists (Maurice Jay, André Rabel, and Jean-Joseph Renaud) withdrew after the draw, the quarterfinals were redrawn: there were five pools with six fencers each, while the sixth pool included Holzchuch and four fencers who had lost in other quarterfinals and were given a second chance to advance.

Quarterfinal A

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1	Jean Dreyfuss
2
3
4–6

Quarterfinal B

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3
4–6

Quarterfinal C

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3
4–6

Quarterfinal D

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3
4–6

Quarterfinal E

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3
4–6

Quarterfinal F

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3
4–5	Unknown^[7]

Semifinals

The semifinals, with 18 fencers left, were conducted in three pools of round-robin play. Each pool had six fencers, with the top three advancing to the final.

Semifinal A

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3
4–6

Semifinal B

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3
4–6
Jean Dreyfuss

Semifinal C

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Notes
1
2
3
4–6

Final

In the final, each fencer had either 5 or 6 bouts. Fonst and Perrée initially tied for first with 4 wins each, then Fonst won the barrage to break the tie.

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Wins	Losses
			4	2
			4	1
			3	2
4			3	3
5			2	3
6			2	4
7			2	3
8			2	4
9			0	6

Results summary

Rank	Fencer	Nation	Round 1 Rank	Quarterfinals Rank	Semifinals Rank	Final Wins	Final Losses
			data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=3	3rd	data-sort-value=3	3rd	4	2
			data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=2	2nd	4	1
			data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=3	3rd	3	2
4			data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=3	3rd	data-sort-value=1	1st	3	3
5			data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=3	3rd	2	3
6			data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=2	2nd	2	4
7			data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=1	1st	2	3
8			data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=1	1st	2	4
9			data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=2	2nd	0	6
10–18			data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th	colspan=2 rowspan=9
Jean Dreyfuss		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=3	3rd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=3	3rd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=3	3rd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=3	3rd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
19–31			data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th	colspan=3 rowspan=16
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
32			data-sort-value=2	2nd	data-sort-value=7
			data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=7
			data-sort-value=1	1st	data-sort-value=7
35–104	Gaston Achille		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th	rowspan=70 colspan=4
Adam		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
Andreac		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Bazin		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
de Cazenove		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Costiesco		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
Delprat		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Duclos		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th
Ducreuil		data-sort-value=3	3rd
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th
Fernandès		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Fichot		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th
		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Gardiès		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Grad		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Hérrison		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Lafontaine		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Lariviére		data-sort-value=3	3rd
de Lastic		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
de Laugardière		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Luquetas		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
Massé		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
de Meuse		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Miller		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Moreil		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Mosso		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Peberay		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
de Pradines		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th
Preurot		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Prosper		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th
Salvanahac		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
de Segonzac		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd
		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
		data-sort-value=4	4th–6th
André Tintant		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
de la Tournable		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
de Vars		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Véve		data-sort-value=3	3rd–6th
Weber		data-sort-value=3	3rd–7th

Notes and References

Web site: Fencing at the 1900 Summer Olympics: Épée, Individual, Men . Olympedia . 14 July 2020.
Book: The 1900 Olympic Games Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary . Bill . Mallon . 9780786489527 . July 11, 2015 . Ebook. . English . 271.
Épée-de-Combat . 9 . Robinson . Charles Edmund Newton . Charles Edmund Newton Robinson . 667 - 669 . 1.
Web site: André Tintant . Olympedia . 19 July 2020.
Sulzbacher was named to the Olympic Games by a German fencing club and is therefore listed in some sources, including the IOC's database at Olympic.org, as German. However, he was a French national living in France at the time of the Games; other sources, including Olympedia, more accurate list him as French.
Viscount d'Oyley was historically counted as French, but has been discovered to have been an American living in Paris. Modern sources, such as Olympedia, count him as competing for the United States.
These two competitors were among the 13 other quarterfinalists that had been defeated in quarterfinals A-E.