Fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's épée
| Men's épée at the Games of the IV Olympiad
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| Venue | Franco-British Exhibition fencing grounds | ||||||||||||
| Dates | July 17–24 | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 85 from 12 nations | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Gaston Alibert |
 France
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Alexandre Lippmann |
France
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Eugene Olivier |
France
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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.
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.
Fildes and von Rosen had a double-touch, as did Stöhr and Fildes.
Double-touches were between Gates and van Schreven, Jack and Gates, and Collignon and van Schreven.
Blake and Dwinger had the only double-touch in this six-man pool.
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.
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.
The sixth competition pool was smaller, with only 6 fencers.
The Official Report says only that Bosmans defeated Dubourdieu and Schön in the playoff, without giving further detail.
The single bout between Rodocanachi and Chalmers to break the tie for third resulted in a win for the Frenchman.
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.
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.
The final pool also had only 5 fencers.
Seven of the eight second round pools had 5 fencers, with the eighth having only 4. 2 advanced to the semifinals from each pool.
Doorman again lost to Stern in the playoff bout.
Renard won the playoff pool, with no further details given in the Official Report.
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Wikipedia