Fencing at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's sabre

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.

Men's sabre at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Áron Szilágyi (2011)
Venue	ExCeL London Exhibition Centre
Date	29 July
Competitors	37 from 21 nations
Medalists
Áron Szilágyi  Hungary Diego Occhiuzzi  Italy Nikolay Kovalev  Russia

Background

This was the 27th appearance of the event, which is the only fencing event to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three of the quarterfinalists from 2008 returned: gold medalist Zhong Man of China, fifth-place finisher Luigi Tarantino of Italy, and eighth-place finisher Aliaksandr Buikevich of Belarus. The favorite was Nicolas Limbach of Germany, the 2009 world champion and runner-up in both 2010 (to South Korea's Won Woo-young) and 2011 (to Italy's Aldo Montano). Other contenders included Won, Montano (who had won Olympic gold in 2004), Zhong, European champion Aleksey Yakimenko of Russia, and South Korea's Gu Bon-gil.

For the first time in the history of the event, no nations made their debut in the men's sabre. Italy made its 25th appearance in the event, most of any nation, having missed the inaugural 1896 event and the 1904 Games.

Qualification

Main article: Fencing at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Nations were limited to three fencers each from 1928 to 2004. However, the 2008 Games introduced a rotation of men's team fencing events with one weapon left off each Games; the individual event without a corresponding team event had the number of fencers per nation reduced to two. The men's rotation started with foil (2008) and épée (2012), with sabre scheduled to skip its team event in 2016. Thus, the maximum for individual sabre in 2012 was three per nation.

There were 36 dedicated quota spots for men's sabre. The first 24 spots went to the 3 members of each of the 8 qualified teams in the team foil event. Next, 7 more men were selected from the world rankings based on continents: 2 from Europe, 2 from the Americas, 2 from Asia/Oceania, and 1 from Africa. Finally, 5 spots were allocated by continental qualifying events: 2 from Europe, 1 from the Americas, 1 from Asia/Oceania, and 1 from Africa.

Additionally, there were 8 host/invitational spots that could be spread throughout the various fencing events. Great Britain chose to use 1 of its 8 host places to include a men's sabreur. This made the total number of fencers in the event 37.

Competition format

The sabre competition consisted of a six-round single-elimination bracket with a bronze medal match between the two semifinal losers. Fencing was done to 15 touches or to the completion of three three-minute rounds if neither fencer reached 15 touches by then. At the end of time, the higher-scoring fencer was the winner; a tie resulted in an additional one-minute sudden-death time period. This sudden-death period was further modified by the selection of a draw-winner beforehand; if neither fencer scored a touch during the minute, the predetermined draw-winner won the bout.

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date	Time	Round
Sunday, 29 July 2012	9:00	Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals

Results

Section 1

	Round of 64					Round of 32					Round of 16					Quarter-finals
						Nicolas Limbach (GER)		15
	Lam Hin Chung (HKG)		10			Adam Skrodzki (POL)		8
	Adam Skrodzki (POL)		15								Nicolas Limbach (GER)		15
											Benedikt Wagner (GER)		7
						Renzo Agresta (BRA)		6
						Benedikt Wagner (GER)		15
																Nicolas Limbach (GER)		12
																Nikolay Kovalev (RUS)		15
						Nikolay Kovalev (RUS)		15
						James Williams (USA)		12
											Nikolay Kovalev (RUS)		15
											Won Woo-young (KOR)		11
						Wang Jingzhi (CHN)		6
						Won Woo-young (KOR)		15

Section 2

	Round of 64					Round of 32					Round of 16					Quarter-finals
						Áron Szilágyi (HUN)		15
	Yu Peng Kean (MAS)		15			Yu Peng Kean (MAS)		1
	Mannad Zeid (EGY)		12								Áron Szilágyi (HUN)		15
											Zhong Man (CHN)		10
						Zhong Man (CHN)		15
						Kim Jung-hwan (KOR)		14
																Áron Szilágyi (HUN)		15
																Max Hartung (GER)		13
						Luigi Tarantino (ITA)		14
						Max Hartung (GER)		15
											Max Hartung (GER)		15
	Florin Zalomir (ROU)		15								Gu Bon-gil (KOR)		14
	Mojtaba Abedini (IRI)		7			Florin Zalomir (ROU)		12
						Gu Bon-gil (KOR)		15

Section 3

	Round of 64					Round of 32					Round of 16					Quarter-finals
						Aldo Montano (ITA)		15
	James Honeybone (GBR)		9			Valery Pryiemka (BLR)		9
	Valery Pryiemka (BLR)		15								Aldo Montano (ITA)		13
											Diego Occhiuzzi (ITA)		15
						Liu Xiao (CHN)		9
						Diego Occhiuzzi (ITA)		15
																Diego Occhiuzzi (ITA)		15
																Tim Morehouse (USA)		9
						Dmitry Lapkes (BLR)		15
						Philippe Beaudry (CAN)		10
											Dmitry Lapkes (BLR)		13
											Tim Morehouse (USA)		15
						Tim Morehouse (USA)		15
						Veniamin Reshetnikov (RUS)		6

Section 4

	Round of 64					Round of 32					Round of 16					Quarter-finals
						Rareș Dumitrescu (ROU)		15
						Dmytro Boyko (UKR)		12
											Rareș Dumitrescu (ROU)		15
											Aliaksandr Buikevich (BLR)		6
						Aliaksandr Buikevich (BLR)		15
						Bolade Apithy (FRA)		11
																Rareș Dumitrescu (ROU)		15
																Daryl Homer (USA)		13
						Tiberiu Dolniceanu (ROU)		11
						Daryl Homer (USA)		15
											Daryl Homer (USA)		15
	Hicheim Samandi (TUN)		13								Aleksey Yakimenko (RUS)		14
	Hernán Jansen (VEN)		15			Hernán Jansen (VEN)		4
						Aleksey Yakimenko (RUS)		15

Finals

	Semi-finals				Final
	Nikolay Kovalev (RUS)	7
	Áron Szilágyi (HUN)	15
					Áron Szilágyi (HUN)	15
					Diego Occhiuzzi (ITA)	8
	Diego Occhiuzzi (ITA)	15
	Rareș Dumitrescu (ROU)	11
					Bronze medal match
					Nikolay Kovalev (RUS)	15
					Rareș Dumitrescu (ROU)	10

Final classification

Rank	Fencer	Nation
	Áron Szilágyi	Hungary
	Diego Occhiuzzi	Italy
	Nikolay Kovalev	Russia
4	Rareş Dumitrescu	Romania
5	Nicolas Limbach	Germany
6	Daryl Homer	United States
7	Max Hartung	Germany
8	Tim Morehouse	United States
9	Aleksey Yakimenko	Russia
10	Gu Bon-Gil	South Korea
11	Aldo Montano	Italy
12	Won Woo-young	South Korea
13	Dmitry Lapkes	Belarus
14	Benedikt Wagner	Germany
15	Zhong Man	China
16	Aliaksandr Buikevich	Belarus
17	Veniamin Reshetnikov	Russia
18	Bolade Apithy	France
19	Kim Jung-hwan	South Korea
20	Luigi Tarantino	Italy
21	Tiberiu Dolniceanu	Romania
22	Renzo Agresta	Brazil
23	Liu Xiao	China
24	Philippe Beaudry	Canada
25	James Williams	United States
26	Dmytro Boyko	Ukraine
27	Wang Jingzhi	China
28	Valery Pryiemka	Belarus
29	Florin Zalomir	Romania
30	Adam Skrodzki	Poland
31	Hernán Jansen	Venezuela
32	Yu Peng Kean	Malaysia
33	Mannad Zeid	Egypt
34	Hichem Samandi	Tunisia
35	Lam Hin Chung	Hong Kong
36	James Honeybone	Great Britain
37	Mojtaba Abedini	Iran