Sabre, Individual, Men

From 1908 to 1964 Hungary won the men’s sabre every time they competed with the exception of 1920 when the nation was barred from competing in the aftermath of World War One. Since the streak was broken in 1968 Hungarians had still been regular visitors to the Olympic podium but none had been able to take the Olympic title. The man who restored Hungarian fortunes was 30 year old Bence Szabó. Szabó had already tasted Olympic gold as part of the winning team in Seoul and arrived at Barcelona as the reigning European Champion. World Champion Grigory Kiriyenko had been eliminated long before the semi-finals which pitted four Olympic champions against each other. The first semi-final saw Szabó edge Giovanni Scalzo in a battle where a 1988 team gold winner defeated a 1984 team gold winner in 3 sets. The second semi was a rematch of the individual final from the Los Angeles Games but this time it was Marco Marin of Italy who turned the tables on the 1984 and 1988 champion Jean-François Lamour and ensured the Frenchman would not complete a hat-trick of titles. Marin could not repeat his form in the final and Szabó was a comfortable winner and conceded only two hits on his way to victory. Scalzo defeated Lamour in the bronze final.