Date | 29 November 1956 |
---|---|
Status | Olympic |
Location | Town Hall, St. Kilda, Victoria |
Participants | 23 from 11 countries |
For the first time since 1932 no previous Olympic champion appeared in this event. Reigning champion Irene Camber-Corno was expecting a baby whilst Ilona Elek-Schacherer was withdrawn from the Games by the Hungarian authorities after qualifying for the team at the age of 50.
The surprise of the event and of all the fencing competitions was Britain’s Gillian Sheen. Sheen had been national champion since 1951 but had never been more than a fringe contender at the highest level. She started well at the first round stage but struggled at the semi-final stage and only claimed two wins out of five. Sheen had to survive a barrage against world champion Lidia Dömölky to reach the final pool. The Briton lost her opening match to Olga Orban-Szabo of Romania but then went on a run of six victories, mostly nail-bitingly close, that left her level with the Romania on top of the group table. Sheen then avenged two previous losses to Orban to win the gold medal bout.
In the excitement of the victory, the British team manager rushed out to congratulate her, tripped and only narrowly avoided being impaled on her sword. Her win was so surprising that no British journalist thought it worth covering the event.
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() | Gold | ||
2 | Olga Orban | ![]() | Silver | ||
3 | Renée Garilhe | ![]() | Bronze | ||
4 | Jan Romary | ![]() | |||
5 | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | |||
6 | Karen Lachmann | ![]() | |||
7 | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() | |||
8 | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | ![]() | |||
5 p1 r2/3 | Emma Yefimova | ![]() | |||
5 p2 r2/3 | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() | |||
6 p1 r2/3 | Maxine Mitchell | ![]() | |||
6 p2 r2/3 | Pilar Roldán | ![]() | |||
5 p1 r1/3 | Velleda Cesari | ![]() | |||
5 p2 r1/3 | Ecaterina Orb | ![]() | |||
5 p3 r1/3 | Valentina Rastvorova | ![]() | |||
6 p1 r1/3 | Mary Glen-Haig | ![]() | |||
6 p2 r1/3 | Nadezhda Shitikova | ![]() | |||
6 p3 r1/3 | Judy Goodrich | ![]() | |||
7 p1 r1/3 | Denise O'Brien | ![]() | |||
7 p2 r1/3 | Régine Veronnet | ![]() | |||
7 p3 r1/3 | Magda Nyári-Kovács | ![]() | |||
8 p2 r1/3 | Lois Joseph | ![]() | |||
8 p3 r1/3 | Joy Hardon | ![]() |
Top four finishers in each pool advanced to semi-finals.
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | TD | TR | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Maxine Mitchell | ![]() | 5 | 21 | 15 | |||
2 | Emma Yefimova | ![]() | 4 | 21 | 10 | |||
3 | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() | 4 | 19 | 14 | |||
4 | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 3 | 17 | 14 | |||
5 | Velleda Cesari | ![]() | 3 | 17 | 17 | |||
6 | Mary Glen-Haig | ![]() | 2 | 12 | 21 | |||
7 | Denise O'Brien | ![]() | 0 | 8 | 24 |
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | TD | TR | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 1 | 4 | 2 | |||
2 | Velleda Cesari | ![]() | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Pool 1 Barrage for 4/5 | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Velleda Cesari | ![]() |
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | TD | TR | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jan Romary | ![]() | 5 | 23 | 17 | |||
2 | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() | 5 | 22 | 19 | |||
3 | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | ![]() | 4 | 25 | 19 | |||
4 | Pilar Roldán | ![]() | 4 | 22 | 23 | |||
5 | Ecaterina Orb | ![]() | 3 | 18 | 18 | |||
6 | Nadezhda Shitikova | ![]() | 3 | 21 | 22 | |||
7 | Régine Veronnet | ![]() | 3 | 22 | 23 | |||
8 | Lois Joseph | ![]() | 1 | 18 | 29 |
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | TD | TR | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() | 6 | 27 | 10 | |||
2 | Olga Orban | ![]() | 5 | 21 | 17 | |||
3 | Renée Garilhe | ![]() | 5 | 24 | 19 | |||
4 | Karen Lachmann | ![]() | 4 | 21 | 20 | |||
5 | Valentina Rastvorova | ![]() | 3 | 22 | 21 | |||
6 | Judy Goodrich | ![]() | 3 | 17 | 24 | |||
7 | Magda Nyári-Kovács | ![]() | 1 | 15 | 20 | |||
8 | Joy Hardon | ![]() | 0 | 12 | 28 |
Top four finishers in each pool advanced to final.
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | TD | TR | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | ![]() | 4 | 16 | 2 | |||
2 | Karen Lachmann | ![]() | 4 | 16 | 6 | |||
3 | Renée Garilhe | ![]() | 3 | 17 | 14 | |||
4 | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() | 2 | 14 | 12 | |||
5 | Emma Yefimova | ![]() | 1 | 9 | 17 | |||
6 | Maxine Mitchell | ![]() | 0 | 2 | 20 |
Pool One | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Renée Garilhe | ![]() |
Pool One | Karen Lachmann | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Renée Garilhe | ![]() |
Pool One | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | ![]() | 4 – 0 | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() |
Pool One | Karen Lachmann | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() |
Pool One | Renée Garilhe | ![]() | 4 – 3 | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() |
Pool One | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Emma Yefimova | ![]() |
Pool One | Karen Lachmann | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Emma Yefimova | ![]() |
Pool One | Renée Garilhe | ![]() | 4 – 3 | Emma Yefimova | ![]() |
Pool One | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() | 4 – 0 | Emma Yefimova | ![]() |
Pool One | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | ![]() | 4 – 0 | Maxine Mitchell | ![]() |
Pool One | Karen Lachmann | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Maxine Mitchell | ![]() |
Pool One | Renée Garilhe | ![]() | 4 – 0 | Maxine Mitchell | ![]() |
Pool One | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() | 4 – 0 | Maxine Mitchell | ![]() |
Pool One | Emma Yefimova | ![]() | 4 – 0 | Maxine Mitchell | ![]() |
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | TD | TR | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 4 | 18 | 11 | |||
2 | Jan Romary | ![]() | 3 | 15 | 13 | |||
3 | Olga Orban | ![]() | 3 | 15 | 14 | |||
4 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() | 2 | 13 | 13 | |||
5 | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() | 2 | 15 | 14 | |||
6 | Pilar Roldán | ![]() | 1 | 8 | 19 |
Pool Two | Jan Romary | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Kate Delbarre | ![]() |
Pool Two | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 4 – 3 | Olga Orban | ![]() |
Pool Two | Olga Orban | ![]() | 4 – 3 | Jan Romary | ![]() |
Pool Two | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() |
Pool Two | Gillian Sheen | ![]() | 4 – 0 | Jan Romary | ![]() |
Pool Two | Olga Orban | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() |
Pool Two | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() |
Pool Two | Jan Romary | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() |
Pool Two | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() | 4 – 0 | Olga Orban | ![]() |
Pool Two | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() |
Pool Two | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Pilar Roldán | ![]() |
Pool Two | Jan Romary | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Pilar Roldán | ![]() |
Pool Two | Olga Orban | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Pilar Roldán | ![]() |
Pool Two | Gillian Sheen | ![]() | 4 – 1 | Pilar Roldán | ![]() |
Pool Two | Pilar Roldán | ![]() | 4 – 3 | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() |
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | TD | TR | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() | 1 | 4 | 2 | |||
2 | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Pool 2 Barrage for 4/5 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() | 4 – 2 | Lidia Dömölky | ![]() |
Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bouts Won | TD | TR | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
=1 | Gillian Sheen | ![]() | 6 | 26 | 20 | |||
=1 | Olga Orban | ![]() | 6 | 27 | 17 | |||
3 | Renée Garilhe | ![]() | 5 | 26 | 14 | |||
4 | Jan Romary | ![]() | 4 | 21 | 23 | |||
5 | Kate Delbarre | ![]() | 3 | 20 | 25 | |||
6 | Karen Lachmann | ![]() | 2 | 17 | 20 | |||
7 | Ellen Müller-Preis | ![]() | 1 | 20 | 25 | |||
8 | Bruna Colombetti-Peroncini | ![]() | 1 | 14 | 27 |