Épée, Individual, Men
| Date | 20 July 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Participants | 45 from 21 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament. | |
According to the seeding, Aleksandr Beketov was expected to exit the competition at the first hurdle. The Russian upset predictions to reach the final by putting out reigning Olympic Champion Eric Srecki and two other Olympic medallists Jean-Michel Henry and Iván Kovács on his way. Kovács was a little unlucky in that he slipped and injured an ankle during their bout. The other half of the draw was also prone to upsets and the man who survived to face Beketov was another outsider in the shape of Cuba’s Iván Trevejo.
The final was desperately close with the scores tied on no less than nine occasions. With the scores at 14-14 a lunge from Beketov pushed through the Cuban’s defences and saw him crowned Olympic champion. In an all-Hungarian bronze medal match Géza Imre defeated a still limping Iván Kovács.
| Pos | Seed | Competitor | NOC | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Aleksandr Beketov |  RUS | Gold | ||
| 2 | 20 | Iván Trevejo |  CUB | Silver | ||
| 3 | 25 | Géza Imre |  HUN | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 3 | Iván Kovács | HUN | |||
| 5 | 1 | Sandro Cuomo |  ITA | |||
| 6 | 7 | Jean-Michel Henry |  FRA | |||
| 7 | 12 | Kaido Kaaberma |  EST | |||
| 8 | 22 | Marius Strzalka |  GER | |||
| 9 | 2 | Éric Srecki | FRA | |||
| 10 | 4 | Arnd Schmitt | GER | |||
| 11 | 6 | Angelo Mazzoni | ITA | |||
| 12 | 5 | Robert Leroux | FRA | |||
| 13 | 10 | Mauricio Rivas |  COL | |||
| 14 | 14 | Pavel Kolobkov | RUS | |||
| 15 | 17 | Andrus Kajak | EST | |||
| 16 | 24 | Elmar Borrmann | GER | |||
| 17 | 8 | Péter Vánky |  SWE | |||
| 18 | 9 | Maurizio Randazzo | ITA | |||
| 19 | 11 | Jean-Marc Chouinard |  CAN | |||
| 20 | 13 | Danek Nowosielski | CAN | |||
| 21 | 15 | Nic Bürgin |  SUI | |||
| 22 | 16 | Krisztián Kulcsár | HUN | |||
| 23 | 19 | Yang Noe-Seong |  KOR | |||
| 24 | 21 | Zhao Gang |  CHN | |||
| 25 | 23 | Jim Carpenter |  USA | |||
| 26 | 27 | Vitali Zakharau |  BLR | |||
| 27 | 29 | Jang Tae-Seok | KOR | |||
| 28 | 30 | Mike Marx | USA | |||
| 29 | 34 | César González |  ESP | |||
| 30 | 33 | Valery Zakharevich | RUS | |||
| 31 | 37 | Tamir Bloom | USA | |||
| 32 | 39 | Gheorghe Epurescu |  ROU | |||
| 33 | 26 | Óscar Fernández | ESP | |||
| 34 | 28 | Olivier Jacquet | SUI | |||
| 35 | 31 | Meelis Loit | EST | |||
| 36 | 32 | Fernando de la Peña | ESP | |||
| 37 | 36 | Roman Ječmínek |  CZE | |||
| 38 | 35 | James Ransom | CAN | |||
| 39 | 38 | Nuno Frazão |  POR | |||
| 40 | 40 | Paris Inostroza |  CHI | |||
| 41 | 42 | Juan Miguel Paz | COL | |||
| 42 | 41 | Lee Sang-Gi | KOR | |||
| 43 | 43 | Gabriel Pantelimon | ROU | |||
| 44 | 44 | Iliya Mechkov |  BUL | |||
| 45 | 45 | Aurel Bratu | ROU |
Round One
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to round two. |
Round Two
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to round three. |
Round Three
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to quarter-finals. |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | Result | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bout #1 | 20 Jul | Piste 1 | Sandro Cuomo (1) | ITA | 15 – 14 | Andrus Kajak (17) | EST | |
| Bout #2 | 20 Jul | Piste 2 | Géza Imre (25) | HUN | 15 – 14 | Elmar Borrmann (24) | GER | |
| Bout #3 | 20 Jul | Piste 4 | Kaido Kaaberma (12) | EST | 15 – 14 | Robert Leroux (5) | FRA | |
| Bout #4 | 20 Jul | Piste 5 | Iván Trevejo (20) | CUB | 15 – 8 | Arnd Schmitt (4) | GER | |
| Bout #5 | 20 Jul | Piste 1 | Iván Kovács (3) | HUN | 15 – 11 | Pavel Kolobkov (14) | RUS | |
| Bout #6 | 20 Jul | Piste 2 | Marius Strzalka (22) | GER | 15 – 13 | Angelo Mazzoni (6) | ITA | |
| Bout #7 | 20 Jul | Piste 3 | Jean-Michel Henry (7) | FRA | 15 – 11 | Mauricio Rivas (10) | COL | |
| Bout #8 | 20 Jul | Piste 5 | Aleksandr Beketov (18) | RUS | 15 – 10 | Éric Srecki (2) | FRA |
Quarter-Finals
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to semi-finals. |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | Result | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bout #1 | 20 Jul | Piste 1 | Géza Imre (25) | HUN | 15 – 14 | Sandro Cuomo (1) | ITA | |
| Bout #2 | 20 Jul | Piste 2 | Iván Trevejo (20) | CUB | 15 – 14 | Kaido Kaaberma (12) | EST | |
| Bout #3 | 20 Jul | Piste 4 | Iván Kovács (3) | HUN | 15 – 13 | Marius Strzalka (22) | GER | |
| Bout #4 | 20 Jul | Piste 5 | Aleksandr Beketov (18) | RUS | 15 – 13 | Jean-Michel Henry (7) | FRA |
Semi-Finals
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to final. |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | Result | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bout #1 | 20 Jul | Piste 1 | Iván Trevejo (20) | CUB | 15 – 10 | Géza Imre (25) | HUN | |
| Bout #2 | 20 Jul | Piste 1 | Aleksandr Beketov (18) | RUS | 15 – 8 | Iván Kovács (3) | HUN |
Final Round
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | Result | Competitor (Seed) | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bout 1/2 | 20 Jul | Piste 1 | Aleksandr Beketov (18) | RUS | 15 – 14 | Iván Trevejo (20) | CUB | |
| Bout 3/4 | 20 Jul | Piste 1 | Géza Imre (25) | HUN | 15 – 9 | Iván Kovács (3) | HUN |