Fencing at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's sabre

The men's sabre was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1992 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twenty-second appearance of the event. The competition was held on 2 August 1992. 44 fencers from 19 nations competed.[1] Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Bence Szabó of Hungary, the nation's first victory in the men's sabre since 1964 (the last of its nine-Games winning streak) and 12th overall. Marco Marin took silver while Jean-François Lamour finished with the bronze. Lamour, who had won gold in 1984 and 1988, was unable to win a third title but still became only the second man with three medals in the event (after Aladár Gerevich earned one of each color in 1936, 1948, and 1952). Marin had also finished second in 1984; he was the 12th man with multiple medals in the sabre.

Men's sabre
at the Games of the XXV Olympiad
VenuePalau de la Metal·lúrgia
Dates2 August 1992
Competitors44 from 19 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bence Szabó  Hungary
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Marco Marin  Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jean-François Lamour  France
← 1988
1996 →

Background

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This was the 22nd appearance of the event, which is the only fencing event to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Six of the quarterfinalists from 1988 returned: two-time gold medalist Jean-François Lamour of France, silver medalist Janusz Olech of Poland, bronze medalist Giovanni Scalzo of Italy, and fifth-place finishers György Nébald of Hungary and Felix Becker and Jürgen Nolte of West Germany. Marco Marin, 1984 silver medalist who had not advanced through the knockout rounds in 1988, also returned. The three world championships since the previous Games had been won by Grigory Kiriyenko of the Soviet Union (1989 and 1991) and Nébald (1990).[2]

Saudi Arabia made its debut in the men's sabre; some former Soviet republics competed as the Unified Team. Italy made its 20th appearance in the event, most of any nation, having missed the inaugural 1896 event and the 1904 Olympics.

Competition format

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The 1992 tournament used a three-phase format roughly similar to prior years in consisting of a group phase, a double-elimination phase, and a single-elimination phase, but each phase was very different from previous formats.

The first phase was a single round (vs. 3 rounds in 1988) round-robin pool play format; each fencer in a pool faced each other fencer in that pool once. There were 7 pools with 6 or 7 fencers each. The fencers' ranks within the pool were ignored; the overall winning percentage (with touch differential and then touches against used as tie-breakers) were used to rank the fencers. The top 34 advanced to the second phase, while the other fencers were eliminated.

The second phase was a modified, truncated double-elimination tournament. 30 fencers received a bye to the second round (round of 32), while the 4 fencers ranked 31–34 played in the round of 64. Fencers losing in the round of 64 were eliminated, while the remaining rounds were double elimination via repechages. The repechages (but not the main brackets) used a complicated reseeding mechanism. Ultimately, the 4 fencers remaining undefeated after the round of 8 advanced to the quarterfinals along with 4 fencers who advanced through the repechages after one loss.

The final phase was a single elimination tournament with quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final and bronze medal match.

All bouts were to 5 touches. In the second and third phases, matches were best-of-three bouts.

Schedule

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All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 2 August 1992 Group round
Elimination round
Final round

Results

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Group round

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Fencers were ranked by win percent, then touch differential, then touches against. This ranking, with adjustments to ensure that no two fencers of the same nation were in the same bracket (noted in parentheses), was used to seed the elimination round brackets.

Rank Fencer Nation Pool Rank Wins Losses Win % TF TA TF - TA Notes
1 György Nébald   Hungary 6 1 6 0 1.000 30 11 19 Q
2 Giovanni Scalzo   Italy 7 1 5 1 .833 29 17 12 Q
3 Aleksandr Shirshov   Unified Team 4 1 4 1 .800 24 10 14 Q
4 Jörg Kempenich   Germany 1 1 4 1 .800 23 14 9 Q
5 Jean-François Lamour   France 1 2 4 1 .800 24 16 8 Q
6 Antonio García   Spain 4 2 4 1 .800 22 15 7 Q
7 Felix Becker   Germany 3 1 4 1 .800 24 17 7 Q
8 Vilmoș Szabo   Romania 2 1 4 1 .800 24 18 6 Q
9 Ferdinando Meglio   Italy 3 2 4 1 .800 22 18 4 Q
10 Bence Szabó   Hungary 5 1 3 1 .750 19 12 7 Q
11 Jean-Philippe Daurelle   France 5 2 3 1 .750 17 12 5 Q
12 Marco Marin   Italy 6 2 4 2 .667 26 15 11 Q
13 (15) Franck Ducheix   France 7 2 4 2 .667 27 20 7 Q
14 (13) Grigory Kiriyenko   Unified Team 6 3 4 2 .667 24 21 3 Q
15 (14) Zisis Babanasis   Greece 7 3 4 2 .667 23 21 2 Q
16 Robert Kościelniakowski   Poland 1 3 3 2 .600 20 14 6 Q
17 (19) Csaba Köves   Hungary 4 3 3 2 .600 21 16 5 Q
18 (17) Jürgen Nolte   Germany 2 2 3 2 .600 23 18 5 Q
19 (18) Jean-Marie Banos   Canada 2 3 3 2 .600 22 20 2 Q
20 Janusz Olech   Poland 3 3 3 2 .600 20 19 1 Q
21 (22) Marek Gniewkowski   Poland 2 4 3 2 .600 19 22 -3 Q
22 (21) Raúl Peinador   Spain 6 4 3 3 .500 24 22 2 Q
23 Zheng Zhaokang   China 6 5 3 3 .500 23 22 1 Q
24 Heorhiy Pohosov   Unified Team 7 4 3 3 .500 24 23 1 Q
25 (26) Alexandru Chiculiţă   Romania 5 3 2 2 .500 18 18 0 Q
26 (25) Mike Lofton   United States 7 5 3 3 .500 21 23 -2 Q
27 Kirk Zavieh   Great Britain 5 4 2 2 .500 14 17 -3 Q
28 Yang Zhen   China 3 4 2 3 .400 19 19 0 Q
29 Ian Williams   Great Britain 1 4 2 3 .400 20 20 0 Q
30 (31) Gary Fletcher   Great Britain 4 4 2 3 .400 15 16 -1 Q
31 (30) Daniel Grigore   Romania 1 5 2 3 .400 18 19 -1 Q
32 Jean-Paul Banos   Canada 3 5 2 3 .400 18 20 -2 Q
33 Steve Mormando   United States 2 5 2 3 .400 19 21 -2 Q
34 Bob Cottingham   United States 4 5 2 3 .400 12 19 -7 Q
35 Tony Plourde   Canada 7 6 2 4 .333 25 25 0
36 Dario Torrente   South Africa 6 6 1 5 .167 11 29 -18
37 Ricardo Menalda   Brazil 2 6 0 5 .000 17 25 -8
38 Jia Guihua   China 5 5 0 4 .000 11 20 -9
39 Esteban Mullins   Costa Rica 3 6 0 5 .000 15 25 -10
40 Luís Silva   Portugal 4 6 0 5 .000 7 25 -18
41 Hiroshi Hashimoto   Japan 6 7 0 6 .000 12 30 -18
42 Hein van Garderen   South Africa 7 7 0 6 .000 10 30 -20
43 Sami Al-Baker   Saudi Arabia 1 6 0 5 .000 3 25 -22
44 José Luis Álvarez   Spain 5 6 Did not start

Elimination rounds

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Main brackets

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Main bracket 1
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Mormando was eliminated after the round of 64. The losers in the round of 32 faced off, with Kościelniakowski beating Nébald and Pohosov beating V. Szabo to advance to the repechage. The losers of the round of 16, J-P Banos and Lofton, advanced directly to the first round of the repechage. Nolte, having lost in the round of 8, went to the third round of the repechage. Meglio won the bracket, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Round of 8
1   György Nébald (HUN) 5 5
33   Steve Mormando (USA) 2 2 32   Jean-Paul Banos (CAN) 6 6
32   Jean-Paul Banos (CAN) 5 5 32   Jean-Paul Banos (CAN) 2 3
17   Jürgen Nolte (GER) 5 5
17   Jürgen Nolte (GER) 6 2 5
16   Robert Kościelniakowski (POL) 5 5 2
17   Jürgen Nolte (GER) 3 5
9   Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) 5 6
9   Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) 5 5
24   Heorhiy Pohosov (EUN) 1 1
9   Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) 5 6
25   Mike Lofton (USA) 2 5
25   Mike Lofton (USA) 5 5
8   Vilmoș Szabo (ROU) 2 2
Repechage qualifiers 1
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Repechage qualifier
     
1   György Nébald (HUN) 3 1
16   Robert Kościelniakowski (POL) 5 5
Repechage qualifier
     
24   Heorhiy Pohosov (EUN) 5 6
8   Vilmoș Szabo (ROU) 3 5
Main bracket 2
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The losers in the round of 32 faced off, with Yang beating Peinador and Olech beating Williams to advance to the repechage. The losers of the round of 16, Marin and Kempenich, advanced directly to the first round of the repechage. Kiriyenko, having lost in the round of 8, went to the third round of the repechage. Lamour won the bracket, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Round of 8
5   Jean-François Lamour (FRA) 5 5
28   Yang Zhen (CHN) 1 3
5   Jean-François Lamour (FRA) 6 5
12   Marco Marin (ITA) 4 2
21   Raúl Peinador (ESP) 3 5
12   Marco Marin (ITA) 5 6
5   Jean-François Lamour (FRA) 5 5 5
13   Grigory Kiriyenko (EUN) 2 6 3
13   Grigory Kiriyenko (EUN) 4 5 6
20   Janusz Olech (POL) 6 2 4
13   Grigory Kiriyenko (EUN) 5 1 5
4   Jörg Kempenich (GER) 3 5 1
29   Ian Williams (GBR) 2 1
4   Jörg Kempenich (GER) 5 5
Repechage qualifiers 2
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Repechage qualifier
     
28   Yang Zhen (CHN) 6 5
16   Raúl Peinador (ESP) 5 4
Repechage qualifier
     
20   Janusz Olech (POL) 3 5 5
29   Ian Williams (GBR) 5 2 1
Main bracket 3
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The losers in the round of 32 faced off, with Yang beating Babanasis and Daurelle beating Zavieh to advance to the repechage. The losers of the round of 16, Grigore and Gniewkowski, advanced directly to the first round of the repechage. Köves, having lost in the round of 8, went to the third round of the repechage. García won the bracket, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Round of 8
3   Aleksandr Shirshov (EUN) 6 5
30   Daniel Grigore (ROU) 5 2
3   Aleksandr Shirshov (EUN) 4 2
19   Csaba Köves (HUN) 6 5
19   Csaba Köves (HUN) 1 6 5
14   Zisis Babanasis (GRE) 5 4 2
19   Csaba Köves (HUN) 2 5 3
6   Antonio García (ESP) 5 2 5
11   Jean-Philippe Daurelle (FRA) 5 4
22   Marek Gniewkowski (POL) 6 6
22   Marek Gniewkowski (POL) 5 3
6   Antonio García (ESP) 6 5
27   Kirk Zavieh (GBR) 3 4
6   Antonio García (ESP) 5 6
Repechage qualifiers 3
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Repechage qualifier
     
30   Daniel Grigore (ROU) 5 5
14   Zisis Babanasis (GRE) 2 1
Repechage qualifier
     
11   Jean-Philippe Daurelle (FRA) 5 5
27   Kirk Zavieh (GBR) 1 3
Main bracket 4
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Fletcher was eliminated after the round of 64. The losers in the round of 32 faced off, with Zheng beating Chiculiţă and Cottingham beating J-M Banos to advance to the repechage. The losers of the round of 16, Becker and Ducheix, advanced directly to the first round of the repechage. B. Szabó, having lost in the round of 8, went to the third round of the repechage. Scalzo won the bracket, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Round of 8
7   Felix Becker (GER) 3 5 5
26   Alexandru Chiculiţă (ROU) 5 2 1
7   Felix Becker (GER) 3 5 2
10   Bence Szabó (HUN) 5 2 5
23   Zheng Zhaokang (CHN) 0 2
10   Bence Szabó (HUN) 5 5
10   Bence Szabó (HUN) 4 5
2   Giovanni Scalzo (ITA) 6 6
15   Franck Ducheix (FRA) 5 6
18   Jean-Marie Banos (CAN) 1 5
15   Franck Ducheix (FRA) 0 5 2
31   Gary Fletcher (GBR) 2 2 2   Giovanni Scalzo (ITA) 5 2 5
34   Bob Cottingham (USA) 5 5 34   Bob Cottingham (USA) 2 3
2   Giovanni Scalzo (ITA) 5 5
Repechage qualifiers 4
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Repechage qualifier
     
26   Alexandru Chiculiţă (ROU) 6 4 4
23   Zheng Zhaokang (CHN) 4 6 6
Repechage qualifier
     
18   Jean-Marie Banos (CAN) 5 1
34   Bob Cottingham (USA) 6 5

Repechage rounds 1 and 2

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The fencers were reseeded: the eight fencers who had lost in the round of 16 were reseeded as 1–8 while the eight fencers who had lost in the round of 32 but won the repechage qualifiers were reseeded as 9–16. For example, original seed #11 Daurelle was reseeded as #9 because he was the top-seeded fencer who had advanced through the repechage qualifiers. Original seeds are shown in parentheses in the brackets.

R1 seed O seed Fencer Nation
From round of 16
1 3 Aleksandr Shirshov   Unified Team
2 4 Jörg Kempenich   Germany
3 7 Felix Becker   Germany
4 12 Marco Marin   Italy
5 15 Franck Ducheix   France
6 22 Marek Gniewkowski   Poland
7 25 Mike Lofton   United States
8 32 Jean-Paul Banos   Canada
From round of 32 and qualifiers
9 11 Jean-Philippe Daurelle   France
10 16 Robert Kościelniakowski   Poland
11 20 Janusz Olech   Poland
12 23 Zheng Zhaokang   China
13 24 Heorhiy Pohosov   Unified Team
14 28 Yang Zhen   China
15 30 Daniel Grigore   Romania
16 34 Bob Cottingham   United States
Repechage rounds 1 and 2 bracket 1
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Repechage round 1 Repechage round 2
1 (3)   Aleksandr Shirshov (EUN) 2 5 5
16 (34)   Bob Cottingham (USA) 5 1 3 1 (3)   Aleksandr Shirshov (EUN) 4 6 4
9 (11)   Jean-Philippe Daurelle (FRA) 5 5 9 (11)   Jean-Philippe Daurelle (FRA) 6 5 6
8 (32)   Jean-Paul Banos (CAN) 3 3
Repechage rounds 1 and 2 bracket 2
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Repechage round 1 Repechage round 2
5 (15)   Franck Ducheix (FRA) 5 3 5
12 (23)   Zheng Zhaokang (CHN) 0 5 6 12 (23)   Zheng Zhaokang (CHN) 0 1
13 (24)   Heorhiy Pohosov (EUN) 0 5 4 4 (12)   Marco Marin (ITA) 5 5
4 (12)   Marco Marin (ITA) 5 2 6
Repechage rounds 1 and 2 bracket 3
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Repechage round 1 Repechage round 2
3 (7)   Felix Becker (GER) 5 5
14 (28)   Yang Zhen (CHN) 2 3 3 (7)   Felix Becker (GER) 1 6 2
11 (20)   Janusz Olech (POL) 5 5 11 (20)   Janusz Olech (POL) 5 4 5
6 (22)   Marek Gniewkowski (POL) 2 2
Repechage rounds 1 and 2 bracket 4
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Repechage round 1 Repechage round 2
7 (25)   Mike Lofton (USA) 5 4 5
10 (16)   Robert Kościelniakowski (POL) 1 6 6 10 (16)   Robert Kościelniakowski (POL) 6 5 6
15 (30)   Daniel Grigore (ROU) 5 5 15 (30)   Daniel Grigore (ROU) 5 6 5
2 (4)   Jörg Kempenich (GER) 2 1

Repechage round 3

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The fencers were reseeded again. Seeds 1–4 were given to round 8 losers, based on their original seeds (excluding adjustments to avoid having multiple fencers from the same nation in a bracket, which affected Köves and Nolte). Seeds 5–8 were given to the winners of the second round of the repechage, based on their original seeds.

R3 seed R1 seed O seed Fencer Nation
From round of 8
1 10 Bence Szabó   Hungary
2 13 Grigory Kiriyenko   Unified Team
3 19 Csaba Köves   Hungary
4 17 Jürgen Nolte   Germany
From repechage round 2
5 9 11 Jean-Philippe Daurelle   France
6 4 12 Marco Marin   Italy
7 10 16 Robert Kościelniakowski   Poland
8 11 20 Janusz Olech   Poland
Repechage round 3 bracket 1
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Repechage round 3
     
1 (10)   Bence Szabó (HUN) 5 6
8 (20)   Janusz Olech (POL) 1 4
Repechage round 3 bracket 2
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Repechage round 3
     
5 (11)   Jean-Philippe Daurelle (FRA) 2 4
4 (17)   Jürgen Nolte (GER) 5 6
Repechage round 3 bracket 3
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Repechage round 3
     
3 (19)   Csaba Köves (HUN) 3 3
6 (12)   Marco Marin (ITA) 5 5
Repechage round 3 bracket 4
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Repechage round 3
     
7 (16)   Robert Kościelniakowski (POL) 2 5 4
2 (13)   Grigory Kiriyenko (EUN) 5 1 6

Final rounds

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The fencers were reseeded a final time. Seeds 1–4 were given to the round of 8 winners, based on their original seeds. Seeds 5–8 were given to the winners of the third round of the repechage, based on their original seeds.

F seed R3 seed R1 seed O seed Fencer Nation
From round of 8
1 2 Giovanni Scalzo   Italy
2 5 Jean-François Lamour   France
3 6 Antonio García   Spain
4 9 Ferdinando Meglio   Italy
From repechage round 3
5 1 10 Bence Szabó   Hungary
6 6 4 12 Marco Marin   Italy
7 7 10 16 Robert Kościelniakowski   Poland
8 4 17 Jürgen Nolte   Germany
Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
               
1 (2)   Giovanni Scalzo (ITA) 2 5 5
8 (17)   Jürgen Nolte (GER) 5 3 3
1 (2)   Giovanni Scalzo (ITA) 3 5 4
5 (10)   Bence Szabó (HUN) 5 3 6
5 (10)   Bence Szabó (HUN) 5 5
4 (9)   Ferdinando Meglio (ITA) 2 0
5 (10)   Bence Szabó (HUN) 5 5
6 (12)   Marco Marin (ITA) 1 1
3 (6)   Antonio García (ESP) 3 5 2
6 (12)   Marco Marin (ITA) 5 2 5
6 (12)   Marco Marin (ITA) 6 5 Bronze match
2 (5)   Jean-François Lamour (FRA) 4 3
7 (16)   Robert Kościelniakowski (POL) 2 5 4 1 (2)   Giovanni Scalzo (ITA) 5 5 1
2 (5)   Jean-François Lamour (FRA) 5 1 6 2 (5)   Jean-François Lamour (FRA) 3 6 5

Final classification

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Fencer Nation
Bence Szabó   Hungary
Marco Marin   Italy
Jean-François Lamour   France
Giovanni Scalzo   Italy
Antonio García   Spain
Ferdinando Meglio   Italy
Robert Kościelniakowski   Poland
Jürgen Nolte   Germany
Jean-Philippe Daurelle   France
Grigory Kiriyenko   Unified Team
Csaba Köves   Hungary
Janusz Olech   Poland
Aleksandr Shirshov   Unified Team
Felix Becker   Germany
Zheng Zhaokang   China
Daniel Grigore   Romania
Jörg Kempenich   Germany
Franck Ducheix   France
Marek Gniewkowski   Poland
Heorhiy Pohosov   Unified Team
Mike Lofton   United States
Yang Zhen   China
Jean-Paul Banos   Canada
Bob Cottingham   United States
György Nébald   Hungary
Vilmoș Szabo   Romania
Zisis Babanasis   Greece
Jean-Marie Banos   Canada
Raúl Peinador   Spain
Alexandru Chiculiţă   Romania
Kirk Zavieh   Great Britain
Ian Williams   Great Britain
Gary Fletcher   Great Britain
Steve Mormando   United States
Tony Plourde   Canada
Dario Torrente   South Africa
Ricardo Menalda   Brazil
Jia Guihua   China
Esteban Mullins   Costa Rica
Luís Silva   Portugal
Hiroshi Hashimoto   Japan
Hein van Garderen   South Africa
Sami Al-Baker   Saudi Arabia
José Luis Álvarez   Spain

References

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  1. ^ "Fencing: 1992 Olympic Results - Men's sabre". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Sabre, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 25 November 2020.