Fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's team sabre

The men's team sabre was one of four fencing events on the Fencing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. The event was won by the Hungarian team, who also took the top two medals in the individual sabre event. Each nation could enter a team of up to 8 fencers, with 4 fencers chosen for each match.[4]

Men's team sabre
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
VenueFranco-British Exhibition fencing grounds
DatesJuly 24 (final)
Competitors35 from 8 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Hungary[1]
Jenö Fuchs, Oszkar Gerde, Péter Tóth, Lajos Werkner
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Italy[2]
Marcello Bertinetti, Riccardo Nowak, Abelardo Olivier, Alessandro Pirzio-Biroli, Sante Ceccherini
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Bohemia[3]
Vlastimil Lada-Sázavský, Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf, Bedrich Schejbal, Jaroslav Šourek-Tucek
1912 →

Competition format

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The tournament used a variant of the Bergvall system, holding a single elimination bracket for the gold medal with a repechage ending in a match for silver and bronze. Each match featured 4 fencers from one team facing 4 fencers from the other team, for a total of 16 individual bouts. Bouts were to 3 touches.

With 8 teams, the main bracket consisted of quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Teams defeated by the gold medalist in the main bracket moved to the repechage. With 3 teams in the repechage, a repechage "semifinal" and "final" (which awarded the silver medal to the winner and bronze medal to the loser) were scheduled (Bohemia did not contest the repechage final).

Results

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Main bracket

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First round

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Winners advanced, losers out. The team that was defeated by the eventual champions moved to the repechage.

Winners Losers
Nation Fencers Bouts lost Bouts lost Fencers Nation
  Italy Marcello Bertinetti
Sante Ceccherini
Abelardo Olivier
Alessandro Pirzio-Biroli
5 11 H. Evan James
William Marsh
Archibald Murray
Charles Wilson
  Great Britain
  France Georges de la Falaise
Bertrand Marie de Lesseps
Marc Perrodon
Louis Renaud
6 10 André du Bosch
Etienne Grade
Antoine van Tomme
Joseph van der Voodt
  Belgium
  Bohemia Otakar Lada
Vlastimil Lada-Sázavský
Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf
Bedřich Schejbal
8 9 Jetze Doorman
Adrianus de Jong
Jacob van Löben Sels
George van Rossem
  Netherlands
  Hungary Jenő Fuchs
Oszkár Gerde
Péter Tóth
Lajos Werkner
0 9 Jakob Erkrath de Bary
Fritz Jack
Robert Krünert
August Petri
  Germany

Semifinals

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Winners advanced to play for the gold medal, loser to eventual champion was sent to repechage.

Winners Losers
Nation Fencers Bouts lost Bouts lost Fencers Nation
  Bohemia Otakar Lada
Vlastimil Lada-Sázavský
Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf
Bedřich Schejbal
7 9 Georges de la Falaise
Bertrand Marie de Lesseps
Marc Perrodon
Louis Renaud
  France
  Hungary Dezső Földes
Jenő Fuchs
Oszkár Gerde
Péter Tóth
5 11 Marcelo Bertinetti
Sante Ceccherini
Abelardo Olivier
Alessandro Pirzio-Biroli
  Italy

Final

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The winner received the gold medal, while the loser had to play the winner of the repechage in the silver medal match.

Winners Losers
Nation Fencers Bouts lost Bouts lost Fencers Nation
  Hungary Jenő Fuchs
Oszkár Gerde
Péter Tóth
Lajos Werkner
7 9 Vlastimil Lada-Sázavský
Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf
Bedřich Schejbal
Jaroslav Šourek-Tucek
  Bohemia

Repechage

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Germany and Italy had been defeated by Hungary, the winner of the final, in the first two rounds. The two teams faced each other for the right to advance to the silver medal match against the loser of the final.

Round 1

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Winners Losers
Nation Fencers Bouts lost Bouts lost Fencers Nation
  Italy Marcelo Bertinetti
Riccardo Nowak
Abelardo Olivier
Alessandro Pirzio-Biroli
4 10 Jakob Erkrath de Bary
Fritz Jack
Robert Krünert
August Petri
  Germany

Silver medal match

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The winner took the silver medal, with loser receiving bronze. The Bohemian team refused to play the match, arguing that as finalists they had already secured second place. The organizing committee awarded silver medals to Italy, relegating the Bohemian team to bronze medals.

Winners Losers
Nation Fencers Hits against Hits against Fencers Nation
  Italy No match; Bohemia did not start   Bohemia

Notes

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  1. ^ Dezső Földes competed in the semifinal for Hungary, but is not awarded a gold medal by the IOC.
  2. ^ Sante Ceccherini fenced for Italy in the first round and semifinals, but is not considered to be a silver medallist by the IOC.
  3. ^ Otakar Lada also competed for Bohemia in the first round and semifinal, but is not listed as a bronze medallist by the IOC.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 34.

Sources

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  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Fencing 1908". Accessed 1 May 2006. Available electronically at [1] Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine.