Épée, Individual, Men

Unlike the other individual events in 1932, épée pools were scored by a point system, with 2 points given for winning a bout, 1 point for a tie or null bout, and 0 for a loss. The pool standings were determined by most points won, followed by fewest touches received. The individual épée competition had the largest field in 1932 with 28 fencers competing. The last four World Championships had gone to France’s Géo Buchard (1927, 1931) and Philippe Cattiau (1929-30), and they appeared to be the favorites, both easily making it to the final. Buchard, Olympic silver medalist in individual foil in 1920-24, came close to defending his World title, winning eight of 11 final pool bouts, but that was equalled by Italy’s Giancarlo Cornaggia-Medici, who had two tied bouts, while Buchard lost his other three, giving the gold medal to the Italian and the silver to Buchard. The bronze went to Italy’s Carlo Agostoni, who had won a gold medal in team épée at Amsterdam in 1928, as had Cornaggia-Medici. The French and Italians dominated, taking the top six places, with Cattiau coming in sixth. Cornaggia-Medici would return in 1936 to win the bronze medal at Berlin, while Buchard would repeat as World Champion in 1933.