Sabre, Individual, Men
| Date | 12 – 13 August 1948 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Palace of Engineering, Wembley, London |
| Participants | 60 from 24 countries |
The hold that Hungary had over sabre competitions had loosened with the emergence of [Aldo Montano]. Montano had been World Champion in both the last pre-war and first post-war championships so the Hungarians must have uttered a sigh of relief when he was not included in the Italian team individual sabre event. There was a surprise at the semi-final stage where Tibor Berczelly, who had excelled in the team event, was eliminated but the other Hungarians comfortably reached the final stage. Comtemporary reports mention the sabre finals as the highlight of 1948 fencing tournament. Sixteen years after his first Olympic appearance Aladár Gerevich won what would be the only individual title of a 28-year Olympic career. Gerevich recovered from 4-2 down to defeat teammate Pál Kovács 5-4 and survived another close match against Vincenzo Pinton of Italy to earn the right to be called Olympic champion. Pinton won silver ahead of Kovács by a single hit.
Round One (12 August 1948 — 09:00)
Top three finishers in each pool advanced to quarter-finals.
Pool 1
| Jury President | Miloš Klika |  TCH |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salah Dessouki |  EGY | 4 | 1 | – | 16 | |||
| 2 | Antonio Haro |  MEX | 4 | 2 | 28 | 20 | |||
| 3 | Svatopluk Skýva | TCH | 4 | 1 | 20 | 20 | |||
| 4 | Roberto Mañalich |  CUB | 3 | 3 | – | 20 | |||
| 5 | Arthur Pilbrow |  GBR | 3 | 3 | – | 23 | |||
| 6 | Rıza Arseven |  TUR | 1 | 4 | – | – | |||
| 7 | Kauko Jalkanen |  FIN | 0 | 5 | – | – | |||
| Eugène Laermans |  BEL | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Alfonso Ahumada |  COL | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Aladár Gerevich |  HUN | – | – | – | – |
Pool 2
| Jury President | Konstantinos Bembis |  GRE |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Lefèvre |  FRA | 4 | 0 | – | – | |||
| 2 | Willem van den Berg |  NED | 3 | 0 | – | 5 | |||
| 3 | Robin Brook | GBR | 3 | 2 | – | 17 | |||
| 4 | Benito Ramos | MEX | 1 | 3 | 11 | 17 | |||
| 5 | Sabri Tezcan | TUR | 1 | 3 | 10 | 17 | |||
| 6 | Erkki Kerttula | FIN | 0 | 4 | – | – | |||
 CHI | – | – | – | – | 2 | ||||
| Pál Kovács | HUN | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Orhan Adaş | TUR | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Dean Cetrulo |  USA | – | – | – | – |
Pool 3
| Jury President | Carlo Filogamo |  ITA |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hubert Loisel |  AUT | 5 | 0 | – | – | |||
| 2 | Jean Levavasseur | FRA | 4 | 2 | – | 18 | |||
| 3 | Farid Abou-Shadi | EGY | 4 | 2 | – | 19 | |||
| 4 | Jaroslav Starý | TCH | 3 | 3 | – | – | |||
| 5 | Ivan Osiier |  DEN | 2 | 3 | – | – | |||
| 6 | Nils Sjöblom | FIN | 1 | 5 | – | – | |||
| 7 | Fidel Luna | MEX | 0 | 4 | – | – | |||
| Emiliano Camargo | COL | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Helmi Abdel Rahman | EGY | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Tibor Nyilas | USA | – | – | – | – |
Pool 4
| Jury President | Jean-François Tournon | FRA |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alois Sokol | TCH | 6 | 0 | – | – | |||
| 2 | Heinz Putzl | AUT | 4 | 2 | 25 | 21 | |||
| 3 | Juan Paladino |  URU | 4 | 2 | 28 | 23 | |||
| 4 | Ivan Ruben | DEN | 2 | 3 | – | 20 | |||
| 5 | Andrés Neubauer | CHI | 2 | 4 | – | 23 | |||
| 6 | Merih Sezen | TUR | 1 | 4 | – | 24 | |||
| 7 | Ioannis Karamazakis | GRE | 1 | 5 | – | 28 | |||
| Heinz Lechner | AUT | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Gastone Darè | ITA | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Émile Gretsch |  LUX | – | – | – | – | ||||
| George Worth | USA | – | – | – | – |
Pool 5
| Jury President | R. Mercier | FRA |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eddy Kuijpers | NED | 4 | 1 | – | – | |||
| 2 | Fernando Huergo |  ARG | 3 | 2 | – | 16 | |||
| 3 | Aage Leidersdorff | DEN | 3 | 2 | – | 18 | |||
| 4 | Werner Plattner | AUT | 2 | 3 | – | 18 | |||
| 5 | Otto Greter |  SUI | 2 | 3 | – | 23 | |||
| 6 | Nikolaos Christogiannopoulos | GRE | 1 | 4 | – | – | |||
| Karl Hanisch | AUT | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Miguel Valderrama | COL | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Mohamed Zulficar | EGY | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Vincenzo Pinton | ITA | – | – | – | – |
Pool 6
| Jury President | Tadeusz Friedrich |  POL |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edgardo Pomini | ARG | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2 | Antoni Sobik | POL | 4 | 1 | |||
| 3 | Frans Mosman | NED | 3 | 2 | |||
| 4 | Walter Widemann | SUI | 2 | 3 | |||
| 5 | Roland Asselin |  CAN | 1 | 4 | |||
| 6 | Juan Antonio Martínez | CUB | 0 | 5 | |||
| Ignacio Goldstein | CHI | – | – | ||||
| Athanasios Nanopoulos | GRE | – | – | ||||
| Vittorio Stagni | ITA | – | – |
Pool 7
| Jury President | Konstantinos Bembis | GRE |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Cermesoni | ARG | 4 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Maurice Gramain | FRA | 3 | 2 | |||
| 3 | Mohamed Zulficar | EGY | 3 | 2 | |||
| 4 | Teodor Zaczyk | POL | 3 | 2 | |||
| 5 | Ignacio Goldstein | CHI | 2 | 3 | |||
| 6 | Athanasios Nanopoulos | GRE | 0 | 5 | |||
| Manuel Agüero | ARG | – | – | ||||
| Georges de Bourguignon | BEL | – | – | ||||
| Alf Horn | CAN | – | – | ||||
| Jorge Agostini | CUB | – | – | ||||
| Andreas Skotidas | GRE | – | – | ||||
| Hugo Higueras |  PER | – | – | ||||
| Merih Sezen | TUR | – | – |
Pool 8
| Jury President | Carlo Filogamo | ITA |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roger Tredgold | GBR | 4 | 1 | 10 | |||
| 2 | Estevão Molnar |  BRA | 4 | 1 | 15 | |||
| 3 | Jorge Sarria | PER | 3 | 2 | – | |||
| 4 | Bo Eriksson |  SWE | 3 | 2 | – | |||
| 5 | Bolesław Banaś | POL | 1 | 4 | – | |||
| 6 | Alphonse Ruckstuhl | SUI | 0 | 5 | – | |||
| Édouard Yves | BEL | – | – | – | ||||
| Georges Pouliot | CAN | – | – | – | ||||
| Francisco Valero | MEX | – | – | – |
Quarter-Finals (12 August 1948 — 14:30)
Top four finishers in each pool advanced to semi-finals. Competitors from nations in the team sabre final were also given byes to quarter-finals.
Pool 1
| Jury President | Vincenzo Cuccia | ITA |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean Levavasseur | FRA | 6 | 0 | – | – | |||
| 2 | Tibor Berczelly | HUN | 5 | 1 | – | – | |||
| 3 | Dean Cetrulo | USA | 4 | 3 | – | 21 | |||
| 4 | Hubert Loisel | AUT | 4 | 2 | – | 22 | |||
| 5 | Frans Mosman | NED | 2 | 4 | – | 23 | |||
| =6 | Farid Abou-Shadi | EGY | 2 | 4 | – | 24 | |||
| =6 | Jorge Sarria | PER | 1 | 5 | – | 29 | |||
| 8 | Jorge Cermesoni | ARG | 1 | 6 | – | 31 |
Pool 2
| Jury President | György Rozgonyi | HUN |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gastone Darè | ITA | 5 | 1 | 14 | |||
| 2 | Jacques Lefèvre | FRA | 5 | 1 | 16 | |||
| 3 | George Worth | USA | 4 | 2 | 24 | |||
| 4 | Antoni Sobik | POL | 4 | 3 | 26 | |||
| 5 | Willem van den Berg | NED | 3 | 4 | – | |||
| 6 | Fernando Huergo | ARG | 2 | 4 | 23 | |||
| 7 | Estevão Molnar | BRA | 2 | 5 | 32 | |||
| 8 | Heinz Putzl | AUT | 0 | 5 | – |
Pool 3
| Jury President | R. Mercier | FRA |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aladár Gerevich | HUN | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2 | Vincenzo Pinton | ITA | 5 | 2 | |||
| 3 | Salah Dessouki | EGY | 4 | 3 | |||
| 4 | Antonio Haro | MEX | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | Roger Tredgold | GBR | 3 | 4 | |||
| 6 | Eddy Kuijpers | NED | 3 | 4 | |||
| 7 | Juan Paladino | URU | 2 | 5 | |||
| 8 | Svatopluk Skýva | TCH | 1 | 6 |
Pool 4
| Jury President | Miloš Klika | TCH |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pál Kovács | HUN | 6 | 0 | – | – | |||
| 2 | Tibor Nyilas | USA | 5 | 1 | – | 16 | |||
| 3 | Aage Leidersdorff | DEN | 5 | 2 | – | 23 | |||
| 4 | Carlo Turcato | ITA | 5 | 3 | – | 27 | |||
| =5 | Alois Sokol | TCH | 3 | 4 | – | 28 | |||
| =5 | Edgardo Pomini | ARG | 3 | 4 | – | 28 | |||
| =5 | Robin Brook | GBR | 3 | 5 | – | 34 | |||
| 8 | Maurice Gramain | FRA | 2 | 5 | – | – | |||
| 9 | Mohamed Zulficar | EGY | 0 | 8 | – | – |
Semi-Finals (13 August 1948 — 09:00)
Top four finishers in each pool advanced to finals.
Pool 1
| Jury President | György Rozgonyi | HUN |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pál Kovács | HUN | 6 | 0 | – | – | |||
| 2 | George Worth | USA | 5 | 1 | – | 18 | |||
| 3 | Vincenzo Pinton | ITA | 5 | 2 | – | 24 | |||
| 4 | Tibor Nyilas | USA | 4 | 3 | – | – | |||
| 5 | Jean Levavasseur | FRA | 3 | 4 | – | – | |||
| 6 | Carlo Turcato | ITA | 2 | 4 | – | – | |||
| 7 | Salah Dessouki | EGY | 1 | 5 | – | – | |||
| 8 | Aage Leidersdorff | DEN | 0 | 7 | – | – |
Pool 2
| Jury President | Renato Anselmi | ITA |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Lefèvre | FRA | 6 | 1 | – | – | |||
| =2 | Aladár Gerevich | HUN | 5 | 1 | – | 16 | |||
| =2 | Gastone Darè | ITA | 5 | 1 | – | 16 | |||
| 4 | Antonio Haro | MEX | 4 | 3 | – | – | |||
| 5 | Tibor Berczelly | HUN | 4 | 3 | – | – | |||
| =6 | Antoni Sobik | POL | 1 | 5 | – | 27 | |||
| =6 | Dean Cetrulo | USA | 1 | 5 | – | 27 | |||
| 8 | Hubert Loisel | AUT | 0 | 7 | – | – |
Final Pool (13 August 1948 — 15:00)
| Jury President (1st half) | Miloš Klika | TCH |
|---|---|---|
| Jury President (2nd half) | Jean Lacroix | FRA |
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | Bouts Lost | TD | TR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aladár Gerevich | HUN | 7 | 0 | 35 | 18 | |||
| 2 | Vincenzo Pinton | ITA | 5 | 2 | 32 | 23 | |||
| 3 | Pál Kovács | HUN | 5 | 2 | 33 | 24 | |||
| 4 | Jacques Lefèvre | FRA | 4 | 3 | 27 | 26 | |||
| 5 | George Worth | USA | 2 | 5 | 26 | 27 | |||
| 6 | Gastone Darè | ITA | 2 | 5 | 25 | 30 | |||
| 7 | Tibor Nyilas | USA | 2 | 5 | 20 | 31 | |||
| 8 | Antonio Haro | MEX | 1 | 6 | 15 | 34 |