Sabre, Team, Men

In all team competitions, the winning team was the one with the greatest number of victories, then by the fewest number of touches received. The target area for sabre was reduced from the whole body to “toutes les parties du corps, situées au-dessus de la ligne horizontale passant par la fourche” (“all body parts, located above the horizontal line passing through the crotch”), which seems to mean that touches to the lower torso and hips were valid, but touches to the legs were not.

With seven of the eight finalists from the individual sabre event, Hungary had a very easy time of it in the team sabre event, winning all their matches, with the closest match being a 9-5 victory over Italy in the semi-finals. The Hungarian team won possession of the Challenge Trophy for the Team Épée, which was donated in 1912, appropriately enough, by The City of Budapest.

Hungary won all the gold medals in team sabre at the Olympics from 1908-1960, except for 1920, when the nation was not invited because of its role in World War I. Hungary has also been dominant in the team sabre at the World championships. World championships in the team sabre began in 1930, and were held through the 1950’s in non-Olympic years. Hungary won the title in 1930-31, 1933-35, 1937, 1951, 1953-55, and 1957-58, failing to win the title only in 1938, 1947, and 1949-50.