| | Event type

Foil, Team, Women

Date	26 – 27 July 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Futbolny polya, Legkoatletichesky futbolny kompleks, Moskva
Participants	45 from 9 countries

The Soviet Union had won three successive Olympic titles and every World Championship since 1974 so were considered amongst the most certain victors of the 1980 Olympics before the Games began. The events of the individual foil, where no Soviet had managed to reach the final pool, gave a little pause for thought but that could be explained away as a minor hiccough.

The Soviets were in dominant form in the early stages and swept away all opposition to reach the final. Their opponents were to be France who had beaten Hungary to progress to the final. Inspired by the performance of newly crowned individual champion, Pascale Trinquet, the youthful French team sprung a major surprise by winning the Olympic championship on a 9-6 score line.

After waiting 56 years for a French victory in women’s fencing this was their second Olympic gold within a week. The average age of the victorious team was only just over 22.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC
1	–	France	FRA	Gold
		Pascale Trinquet • Brigitte Latrille-Gaudin • Christine Muzio • Isabelle Boéri-Bégard • Véronique Brouquier
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	Silver
		Valentina Sidorova • Nailya Gilyazova • Yelena Belova • Irina Ushakova • Larisa Tsagarayeva
3	–	Hungary	HUN	Bronze
		Magda Maros • Edit Kovács • Ildikó Schwarczenberger-Tordasi • Zsuzsa Szőcs • Gertrúd Stefanek
4	–	Poland	POL
		Delfina Skąpska • Agnieszka Dubrawska • Jolanta Królikowska • Barbara Wysoczańska • Kamilla Składanowska
5	–	Italy	ITA
		Dorina Vaccaroni • Anna Rita Sparaciari • Susanna Batazzi • Carola Mangiarotti • Clara Mochi
6	–	Cuba	CUB
		Margarita Rodríguez • Marlene Font • María Esther García • Clara Alfonso • Mercedes del Risco
7	–	Great Britain	GBR
		Susan Wrigglesworth • Ann Brannon • Wendy Grant • Linda Ann Martin • Hilary Cawthorne
8	–	East Germany	GDR
		Mandy Niklaus • Gabriele Janke • Sabine Hertrampf • Beate Schubert • Marion Schulze
9	–	Romania	ROU
		Ecaterina Stahl • Marcela Moldovan • Viorica Țurcanu • Suzana Ardeleanu • Aurora Dan

Round One

Date	26 July 1980
Format	Top two teams, based on percentages of wins/losses and bouts won/bouts lost, advanced to round semi-finals. Teams ranked 3-6, based on percentages of wins/losses and bouts won/bouts lost, advanced to quarter-finals.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Matches	Matches Won %%%	Bouts	Bouts Won Margin
1	Soviet Union	URS	2-0	1.000	20-9	11	Q
2	France	FRA	2-0	1.000	20-10	10	Q
3	Poland	POL	1-1	0.500	18-14	4	q
4	Hungary	HUN	1-1	0.500	18-14	4	q
5	Italy	ITA	1-1	0.500	13-16	-3	q
6	Cuba	CUB	1-1	0.500	13-17	-4	q
7	Great Britain	GBR	1-1	0.500	12-20	-8
8	East Germany	GDR	0-2	0.000	13-19	-6
9	Romania	ROU	0-2	0.000	12-20	-8

Pool #1

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	Matches	Bouts
1	–	France	FRA	2-0	20-10
		Pascale Trinquet • Brigitte Latrille-Gaudin • Christine Muzio • Isabelle Boéri-Bégard • Véronique Brouquier
2	–	Cuba	CUB	1-1	13-17
		Margarita Rodríguez • Marlene Font • María Esther García • Clara Alfonso • Mercedes del Risco
3	–	East Germany	GDR	0-2	13-19
		Mandy Niklaus • Gabriele Janke • Sabine Hertrampf • Beate Schubert • Marion Schulze

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	26 Jul	Piste 6	France	FRA	11 – 5	East Germany	GDR
Match #2	26 Jul	Piste 6	France	FRA	9 – 5	Cuba	CUB
Match #3	26 Jul	Piste 6	Cuba	CUB	8 – 8	East Germany	GDR

Pool #2

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	Matches	Bouts
1	–	Soviet Union	URS	2-0	20-9
		Valentina Sidorova • Nailya Gilyazova • Yelena Belova • Irina Ushakova • Larisa Tsagarayeva
2	–	Italy	ITA	1-1	13-16
		Dorina Vaccaroni • Anna Rita Sparaciari • Susanna Batazzi • Clara Mochi • Carola Mangiarotti
3	–	Romania	ROU	0-2	12-20
		Aurora Dan • Marcela Moldovan • Viorica Țurcanu • Suzana Ardeleanu • Ecaterina Stahl

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	26 Jul	Piste 10	Soviet Union	URS	9 – 4	Italy	ITA
Match #2	26 Jul	Piste 10	Soviet Union	URS	11 – 5	Romania	ROU
Match #3	26 Jul	Piste 10	Italy	ITA	9 – 7	Romania	ROU

Pool #3

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	Matches	Bouts
1	–	Poland	POL	1-1	18-14
		Delfina Skąpska • Agnieszka Dubrawska • Jolanta Królikowska • Barbara Wysoczańska • Kamilla Składanowska
2	–	Hungary	HUN	1-1	18-14
		Magda Maros • Edit Kovács • Ildikó Schwarczenberger-Tordasi • Zsuzsa Szőcs • Gertrúd Stefanek
3	–	Great Britain	GBR	1-1	12-20
		Susan Wrigglesworth • Ann Brannon • Wendy Grant • Linda Ann Martin • Hilary Cawthorne

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	26 Jul	Piste 7	Hungary	HUN	9 – 7	Poland	POL
Match #2	26 Jul	Piste Yellow	Poland	POL	12 – 4	Great Britain	GBR
Match #3	26 Jul	Piste 7	Great Britain	GBR	8 – 8	Hungary	HUN

Quarter-Finals

Date	27 July 1980
Format	Winner of each pool advanced to round three. Losers to 5-6 placement match.

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	27 Jul	Piste 2	Hungary	HUN	9 – 6	Italy	ITA
Match #2	27 Jul	Piste 3	Poland	POL	9 – 7	Cuba	CUB

Semi-Finals

Date	27 July 1980
Format	Winner of each match advanced to final.

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	27 Jul	Piste 5	Soviet Union	URS	9 – 3	Poland	POL
Match #2	27 Jul	Piste 3	France	FRA	9 – 6	Hungary	HUN

Final Pool

Date	27 July 1980

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match 1/2	27 Jul	Piste Final	France	FRA	9 – 6	Soviet Union	URS
Match 3/4	27 Jul	Piste 1	Hungary	HUN	9 – 7	Poland	POL
Match 5/6	27 Jul	Piste 1	Italy	ITA	9 – 6	Cuba	CUB