Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's foil

Men's foil at the Games of the I Olympiad
A picture of two fencers performing The Grand Salute
Venue	Zappeion
Date	April 7
Competitors	8 from 2 nations
Medalists
Eugène-Henri Gravelotte France   Henri Callot France   Perikles Pierrakos-Mavromichalis Greece

Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Foil		men
Masters foil		men
Sabre		men

The men's foil was one of three fencing events on the Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. It was held on the second day of competition, 7 April. Eight fencers took part, with the preliminary fencing involving a round-robin held in two groups. The first group was Pierrakos-Mavromichalis, Delaborde, Callot, and Poulos. The second was Komninos-Miliotis, Balakakis, Gravelotte, and Vouros. The two fencers that were undefeated in their groups faced each other in the final for gold and silver medals, while Pierrakos-Mavromichalis was awarded third place as he had the best record (2-1) of the remaining fencers in actual bouts. Vouros's second win came from a forfeit by Komninos-Miliotis.

Results

Preliminary round

Group A

Place	Athlete	TF	TA	W	L
1	Henri Callot (FRA)	9	4	3	0
2	Perikles Pierrakos-Mavromichalis (GRE)	7	4	2	1
3	Ioannis Poulos (GRE)	5	7	1	2
4	Henri Delaborde (FRA)	3	9	0	3

Match	Winner	Touches	Loser
A1	Perikles Pierrakos-Mavromichalis (GRE)	3-1	Henri Delaborde (FRA)
A2	Henri Callot (FRA)	3-2	Ioannis Poulos (GRE)
A3	Perikles Pierrakos-Mavromichalis (GRE)	3-0	Ioannis Poulos (GRE)
A4	Henri Callot (FRA)	3-1	Henri Delaborde (FRA)
A5	Henri Callot (FRA)	3-1	Perikles Pierrakos-Mavromichalis (GRE)
A6	Ioannis Poulos (GRE)	3-1	Henri Delaborde (FRA)

Group B

Place	Athlete	TF	TA	W	L
1	Eugène-Henri Gravelotte (FRA)	9	5	3	0
2	Athanasios Vouros (GRE)	8	4	2	1
3	Konstantinos Komninos-Miliotis (GRE)	5	7	1	2
4	Georgios Balakakis (GRE)	3	9	0	3

Match	Winner	Touches	Loser
B1	Konstantinos Komninos-Miliotis (GRE)	3-1	Georgios Balakakis (GRE)
B2	Eugène-Henri Gravelotte (FRA)	3-2	Athanasios Vouros (GRE)
B3	Athanasios Vouros (GRE)	3-1	Georgios Balakakis (GRE)
B4	Eugène-Henri Gravelotte (FRA)	3-2	Konstantinos Komninos-Miliotis (GRE)
B5	Eugène-Henri Gravelotte (FRA)	3-1	Georgios Balakakis (GRE)
B6	Athanasios Vouros (GRE)	3-0 (w/o)	Konstantinos Komninos-Miliotis (GRE)

Final

In the final, the two undefeated Frenchmen faced each other. Gravelotte won in a close bout.

Match	Winner	Touches	Loser
F	Eugène-Henri Gravelotte (FRA)	3-1	Henri Callot (FRA)

References

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck.  (Digitally available at )
• Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9.  (Excerpt available at )
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.