Fencing at the 1952 Summer Olympics

The fencing competions at the Helsinki Olympics where not held in Helsinki itself but in a tennis arena, the Westendin Tennishalli, in the nearby town of Espoo. Finland had no tradition of success in the sport and only one home fencer reached a final pool in any event. These Games saw a continuation of success from the nations who had traditionally excelled at Olympic level. France won both golds in men’s foil, Italy were kings of épée, whilst, after a close run thing in the team event, Hungary were dominant at sabre.

A major surprise was the win of Irene Camber-Corno over reigning champion Ilona Elek-Schacherer in a barrage to decide the gold medal, whilst the failure of the French at épée was also a shock.

With three golds and eight medals in total, Italy was the most successful nation. Individually, Italian Edoardo Mangiarotti, with two golds and two silvers, was the outstanding fencer of the Games. Australia, Japan, and the USSR were amongst the nations to appear in Olympic fencing for the first time.