Fencing at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's épée

Men's épée at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Jung Jin-Sun (KOR) wins the bronze medal match over Seth Kelsey (USA) in sudden-death overtime
Venue	ExCeL London
Date	1 August
Competitors	30 from 24 nations
Medalists
Rubén Limardo  Venezuela Bartosz Piasecki  Norway Jung Jin-Sun  South Korea

The men's épée competition in fencing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was held on 1 August at the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre. There were 30 competitors from 24 nations. Rubén Limardo of Venezuela won the gold medal – the country's only medal of the 2012 Games as well as the country's first medal in men's individual épée. Norway's Bartosz Piasecki won silver (that nation's first medal in the event, as well) and Jung Jin-Sun from South Korea took bronze.

Background

This was the 26th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Games in 1896 (with only foil and sabre events held) but has been held at every Summer Olympics since 1900.

Three of the eight quarterfinalists from 2008 returned: fifth-place finisher Jung Jin-Sun of South Korea, sixth-place finisher Radosław Zawrotniak of Poland, and eighth-place finisher Bas Verwijlen of the Netherlands. Paolo Pizzo of Italy was the reigning (2011) World Champion, with 2010 champion Nikolai Novosjolov of Estonia also competing in London.

Senegal and Uzbekistan each made their debut in the event. France and the United States each appeared for the 24th time, tied for most among nations.

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 épée in 2012 was two per nation.

There were 30 dedicated quota spots for men's épée. The first 12 spots went to the top fencers by world ranking. Next, 8 more men were selected from the world rankings based on continents: 2 each from Europe, the Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Africa. Finally, 10 spots were allocated by continental qualifying events: 4 from Europe, 2 from the Americas, 3 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 not to use any of its places in the men's épée.

Competition format

The épée competition, following the format introduced in 1996, consisted of a five-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
Wednesday, 1 August 2012	9:00	Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Bronze medal match Final

Results

Top half

	Round of 32					Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals
						Nikolai Novosjolov (EST)		11
	Weston Kelsey (USA)		8			Weston Kelsey (USA)		15
	Li Guojie (CHN)		7								Weston Kelsey (USA)		15
	Silvio Fernández (VEN)		15								Silvio Fernández (VEN)		9
	Dmitriy Alexanin (KAZ)		12			Silvio Fernández (VEN)		15
	Ruslan Kudayev (UZB)		15			Ruslan Kudayev (UZB)		3
	Park Kyoung-Doo (KOR)		9													Weston Kelsey (USA)		5
	Max Heinzer (SUI)		15													Rubén Limardo (VEN)		6
	Paris Inostroza (CHI)		2			Max Heinzer (SUI)		11
	Ayman Fayez (EGY)		13			Rubén Limardo (VEN)		15
	Rubén Limardo (VEN)		15								Rubén Limardo (VEN)		15
	Radosław Zawrotniak (POL)		9								Paolo Pizzo (ITA)		12
	Alexandre Bouzaid (SEN)		15			Alexandre Bouzaid (SEN)		11
	Leung Ka Ming (HKG)		14			Paolo Pizzo (ITA)		15
	Paolo Pizzo (ITA)		15

Bottom half

The semi final of Bartosz Piasecki versus Jung Jin-Sun

	Round of 32					Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals
	Elmir Alimzhanov (KAZ)		15
	Nguyen Tien Nhat (VIE)		9			Elmir Alimzhanov (KAZ)		8
	Pavel Sukhov (RUS)		11			Jung Jin-Sun (KOR)		15
	Jung Jin-Sun (KOR)		15								Jung Jin-Sun (KOR)		15
	Soren Thompson (USA)		4								Jörg Fiedler (GER)		11
	Jörg Fiedler (GER)		15			Jörg Fiedler (GER)		15
	Athos Schwantes (BRA)		10			Bas Verwijlen (NED)		8
	Bas Verwijlen (NED)		15													Jung Jin-Sun (KOR)		13
	Géza Imre (HUN)		15													Bartosz Piasecki (NOR)		15
	Abdelkarim El Haouari (MAR)		8			Géza Imre (HUN)		7
	Bartosz Piasecki (NOR)		14			Bartosz Piasecki (NOR)		15
	Gauthier Grumier (FRA)		13								Bartosz Piasecki (NOR)		15
	Dmytro Karyuchenko (UKR)		10								Yannick Borel (FRA)		14
	Yannick Borel (FRA)		15			Yannick Borel (FRA)		15
						Fabian Kauter (SUI)		11

Finals

	Semi-finals				Final
	Weston Kelsey (USA)	5
	Rubén Limardo (VEN)	6
					Rubén Limardo (VEN)	15
					Bartosz Piasecki (NOR)	10
	Jung Jin-Sun (KOR)	13
	Bartosz Piasecki (NOR)	15
					Bronze medal match
					Weston Kelsey (USA)	11
					Jung Jin-Sun (KOR)	12

Results summary

Rank	Fencer	Nation
	Rubén Limardo	Venezuela
	Bartosz Piasecki	Norway
	Jung Jin-Sun	South Korea
4	Seth Kelsey	United States
5	Paolo Pizzo	Italy
6	Silvio Fernández	Venezuela
7	Yannick Borel	France
8	Jörg Fiedler	Germany
9	Nikolai Novosjolov	Estonia
10	Fabian Kauter	Switzerland
11	Elmir Alimzhanov	Kazakhstan
12	Max Heinzer	Switzerland
13	Bas Verwijlen	Netherlands
14	Géza Imre	Hungary
15	Alexandre Bouzaid	Senegal
16	Ruslan Kudayev	Uzbekistan
17	Park Kyoung-Doo	South Korea
18	Gauthier Grumier	France
19	Soren Thompson	United States
20	Radosław Zawrotniak	Poland
21	Li Guojie	China
22	Dmytro Kariuchenko	Ukraine
23	Pavel Sukhov	Russia
24	Ayman Fayez	Egypt
25	Dmitry Aleksanin	Kazakhstan
26	Abdelkarim El Haouari	Morocco
27	Paris Inostroza	Chile
28	Athos Schwantes	Brazil
29	Nguyễn Tiến Nhật	Vietnam
30	Leung Ka Ming	Hong Kong