The 1904 Summer Olympics were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 1 July to 23 November 1904. Many events were conducted at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. This was the first time that the Olympic Games were held outside Europe.
At the 1908 Summer Olympics, four fencing events were contested.
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.
The men's foil was a fencing event held as part of the fencing programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the third time the event was held at the Olympics. The competition was held on September 7, 1904. Nine fencers from three nations competed. The medals were swept by "Cuban" fencers; only Fonst was actually Cuban, but the other two men were marked as Cuban by the IOC despite being American. The mistake was corrected after more than 100 years in the early 2020s.
The men's épée was a fencing event held as part of the fencing programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the second time the event was held at the Olympics. 5 fencers from 3 nations competed. The competition was held on September 7, 1904. The event was won by Ramón Fonst of Cuba, repeating as Olympic champion in the individual épée. The silver medal went to Charles Tatham and the bronze to Albertson Van Zo Post. Tatham and Van Zo Post were both Americans, but the International Olympic Committee's results page showed them as Cuban for more than a century until it was finally corrected in the early 2020s.
The men's sabre was a fencing event held as part of the fencing programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the third time the event was held at the Olympics. 5 fencers from 2 nations competed. The competition was held on Thursday, September 8, 1904. The event was won by Manuel Díaz of Cuba. American William Grebe took second. Albertson Van Zo Post, an American erroneously listed the IOC database as Cuban until 2021, earned bronze.
The men's singlestick was an event held as part of the fencing programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the only time the event was held at the Olympics. Three fencers competed. The competition was held on Thursday, September 8, 1904. Van Zo Post was credited as Cuban in the IOC's database despite the fact that he was an American, this was corrected in 2021.
The men's foil was a fencing event held as part of the Fencing at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which had not been contested in 1908. There were 94 competitors from 15 nations, a large increase from the 9 fencers who had competed in 1904. The event was won by Nedo Nadi of Italy, the first of his two victories in the event. His countryman Pietro Speciale took silver, while Richard Verderber of Austria took bronze.
The men's épée was a fencing event held as part of the Fencing at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1900. The competition was held from 11 to 13 July at the Östermalm Athletic Grounds. There were 93 competitors from 15 nations. Each nation could enter up to 12 fencers. The event was won by Paul Anspach of Belgium. His countryman Philippe le Hardy took bronze. Silver went to Denmark's Ivan Joseph Martin Osiier, the only medal won by the perennial Olympian who competed in seven Games over 40 years. The medals were the first in the men's épée for both nations.
The men's sabre was a competition in fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 39 men from 21 nations competed in this event. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. Competition took place in the Fencing Hall at the Helliniko Olympic Complex on August 14. The event was won by Aldo Montano of Italy, the nation's first victory in the men's sabre since 1920. Montano accomplished what his grandfather and father, both world champions in the individual event and Olympic medalists in the team competition, had not been able to: Olympic gold in the individual event. Zsolt Nemcsik of Hungary took silver while Vladislav Tretiak earned Ukraine's first medal in the event with his bronze. France's five-Games medal streak ended.
The amateurs-masters épée was an event at the 1900 Summer Olympics. It was held on 15 June at the Tuileries Garden. There were 8 competitors from two nations. The event was won by Albert Ayat of France. Ramón Fonst of Cuba took silver, while Léon Sée of France earned bronze.
The professional sabre competition at the 1900 Summer Olympics involved 27 fencers from 7 nations. It was held from 23 to 27 June at the Tuileries Garden. The event was won by Antonio Conte of Italy, with that nation also receiving second place with Italo Santelli. Austria's Milan Neralić finished third.
The men's sabre fencing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on August 12 at the Olympic Green Convention Centre. There were 40 competitors from 21 nations. The event was won by Zhong Man of China, the nation's first medal in the men's sabre. Nicolas Lopez's silver put France back on the podium after a one-Games absence. Mihai Covaliu of Romania became the 13th man to win multiple medals in the event, adding a bronze to his 2000 gold medal.
The men's sabre was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1960 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourteenth appearance of the event. The competition was held from 7 to 8 September 1960. 70 fencers from 29 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Rudolf Kárpáti, the eighth of nine straight Games in which a Hungarian would win the event. Kárpáti was the second man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the men's sabre and fifth to win multiple medals of any color. His teammate Zoltán Horváth took silver while Wladimiro Calarese of Italy finished with the bronze.
The men's foil was one of ten fencing events on the fencing at the 2000 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twenty-third appearance of the event. The competition was held on 20 September 2000. 40 fencers from 22 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Kim Yeong-Ho of South Korea, the first Asian man to win an Olympic fencing title. Ralf Bißdorf of Germany took silver, the first medal for united Germany since 1928. Dmitry Shevchenko's bronze medal was Russia's first as an independent nation in the event.
The men's sabre was one of ten fencing events on the fencing at the 2000 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twenty-fourth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 21 September 2000. 39 fencers from 20 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. The event was won by Mihai Covaliu of Romania, the nation's first medal in the men's sabre. Mathieu Gourdain's silver extended France's podium streak in the event to five Games. Germany also earned its first medal in the men's sabre, with Wiradech Kothny's bronze.
The men's foil competition in fencing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London was held on 31 July at the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre. There were 38 competitors from 20 nations. Lei Sheng of China won the gold medal, beating Alaaeldin Abouelkassem from Egypt in the final. It was the first medal in the individual men's foil for each of those nations. Choi Byung-chul of South Korea took bronze. The 2012 podium was the first time since 1904 that no European fencer won a medal in the event.
The men's sabre competition in fencing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was held on 29 July at the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre. There were 37 competitors from 21 nations. Hungary's Áron Szilágyi won the gold medal, beating Diego Occhiuzzi of Italy won took silver. Nikolay Kovalev from Russia won the bronze. Szilágyi's gold medal was Hungary's 13th in the men's sabre.
The men's sabre competition in fencing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held on 10 August at the Carioca Arena 3. There were 32 competitors from 25 nations. The event was won by Áron Szilágyi of Hungary, the fourth man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the sabre and 14th to win multiple medals of any color. It was Hungary's 14th gold medal in the event, half of all possible. Daryl Homer earned the United States' first medal in the event since 1984 with his silver, while Kim Jung-hwan took South Korea's first individual men's sabre medal ever with his bronze.
The men's team foil event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 1 August 2021 at the Makuhari Messe. 27 fencers from 9 nations are expected to compete.
