Foil, Individual, Men

Bouts were for three touches or until 12 minutes had elapsed. The target area was the same as in 1896: the torso from the collar to the hips. Touches to the torso below the level of the hips were still invalid. The President was still allowed to count an off-target touch as valid if he felt that the fencer had used a “defective position”.

There were 37 competitors in this event who originally fought seven pools to narrow it down to 14 semi-finalists. Two semi-finalist pools determined the six finalists. The finals were eventually won by the well-known Frenchman, Georges Dillon-Cavanagh. But there was a controversy. The Italian, Federico Cesarano, was unhappy with the judging and withdrew without having fenced all of his bouts. The rules stated that if any fencer retired from the competition because of illness, they would be considered to have lost all of their bouts. The bout committee ruled that this applied also to withdrawals. Counting all the matches fenced, Dillon-Kavanagh was tied with the German, Gustav Casmir. Cesarano had beaten Dillon-Kavanagh but had lost to Casmir. When Cesarano’s results were changed to all losses. Casmir lost a point and Dillon-Kavanagh emerged as the winner. The German team protested but it was not allowed. Dillon-Kavanagh was of Irish descent but had won several fencing championships in Paris at both foil and épée.