At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, eight events in fencing were contested. Men competed in both individual and team events for each of the three weapon types, but women competed only in foil events. They were held between July 22 and July 31 at the fencing hall of the Sports Complex of the Central Sports Club of the Army.
France competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 206 competitors, 177 men and 29 women, took part in 128 events in 18 sports.
France competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. In partial support of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, France competed under the Olympic Flag instead of its national flag. 121 competitors, 98 men and 23 women, took part in 85 events in 13 sports.
France competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. 138 competitors, 118 men and 20 women, took part in 89 events in 14 sports.
France competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. 200 competitors, 169 men and 31 women, took part in 107 events in 16 sports.
Ramón Fonst Segundo was a Cuban fencer who competed in the early 20th century. He was one of the greatest world fencers, individual and by team; he was born and died in Havana.
Christian d'Oriola was a French fencer. He was a cousin of the Olympic equestrian Pierre Jonquères d'Oriola.
Mauro Numa is an Italian fencer and one of the strongest during the 1980s.His career started very early and in 1979, at 18, he was included in the Foil's Italian Team. In 1980 Numa could not compete at the Moscow Olympic Games due to the boycott.
Pascale Trinquet is a French fencer and Olympic champion in foil competition.
Daniel Revenu was a French fencer and Olympic champion in foil competition, and medalist in four successive Olympics.
Gilles Berolatti is a French fencer and olympic champion in foil competition.
Jean-Claude Magnan is a French fencer and Olympic champion in foil competition, and a medalist in three successive Olympics.
Jacques René Émile Dimont was a French fencer and Olympic champion in foil competition.
Stefano Cerioni is an Italian foil fencer, Olympic team champion in 1984, Olympic champion in 1988 and World team champion in 1985 and 1994. He became a fencing master, then a director of foil, first for Italy, then for Russia, then again for Italy.
Valentyna Ksenofontivna Rastvorova was a Ukrainian who was a Soviet fencer who competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Olympics in the individual foil and team foil events. She won an individual silver medal and team gold medal in 1960, and a team silver medal in 1964. She also won six gold and two silver medals at the world championships of 1956–67.
Fernand Alphonse Marie Frédéric de Montigny was a Belgian fencer and hockey player. He won two silver medals and two bronze in fencing and a bronze in hockey. He was also the architect of the 1920 Olympic Stadium.
Frédéric Pietruszka is a French fencer. He won a gold medal in the team foil event at the 1980 Summer Olympics and a bronze in the same events at the 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics.
The men's foil was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1980 Summer Olympics programme. It was the eighteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 22 to 23 July 1980. 37 fencers from 16 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Vladimir Smirnov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first victory in the men's foil since 1960 and second overall. His countryman Alexandr Romankov took bronze, becoming the eighth man to win multiple medals in the event. It was the first time in five Games that France did not receive the bronze medal—though Pascal Jolyot earned silver instead.
Gregory David Massialas is an American foil fencer and fencing coach.
Race Alick Reid Imboden is an American left-handed former foil fencer. He is a nine-time team Pan American champion, six-time individual Pan American champion, and 2019 team world champion. A three-time Olympian, Imboden is a two-time team Olympic bronze medalist. He competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
