| | Event type

Foil, Individual, Women

Date	31 July – 2 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Palace of Engineering, Wembley, London
Participants	39 from 15 countries

It might have been 12 years since the Berlin Olympics but Ilona Elek-Schacherer of Hungary was still the best female fencer in the world. After surviving a barrage in her quarter-final pool, she recovered to become the first woman to retain an Olympic title in fencing. Her attempt at a third straight title in 1952 was thwarted only by the narrowest of margins.

Karen Lachmann of Denmark improved from fifth in Berlin to place second in London with Ellen Müller-Preis of Austria winning a third successive medal behind her.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC
1	Ilona Elek	HUN	Gold
2	Karen Lachmann	DEN	Silver
3	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	Bronze
4	Maria Cerra	USA
5	Fritzi Filz	AUT
6	Margit Elek	HUN
7	Velleda Cesari	ITA
8	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR
5 p1 r3/4	Irene Camber-Corno	ITA
5 p2 r3/4	Jenny Addams	BEL
6 p1 r3/4	Éva Kun	HUN
6 p2 r3/4	Gytte Minton	GBR
4 p1 r2/4	Irma de Antequeda	ARG
4 p2 r2/4	Renée Garilhe	FRA
4 p3 r2/4	Grethe Olsen	DEN
4 p4 r2/4	Jan York	USA
5 p1 r2/4	Louisette Malherbaud	FRA
5 p3 r2/4	Françoise Gouny	FRA
5 p4 r2/4	Elsa Irigoyen	ARG
=5 p2 r2/4	Elena Libera	ITA
=5 p2 r2/4	Kate Mahaut	DEN
6 p1 r2/4	Gabriele Zeilinger	AUT
6 p3 r2/4	Helena Dow	USA
6 p4 r2/4	Anita Klüpfel	SUI
5 p1 r1/4	Mary Meyer-van der Sluis	NED
5 p2 r1/4	Anja Secrève	NED
5 p3 r1/4	Rhoda Martin	CAN
5 p4 r1/4	Enriqueta Mayora	MEX
5 p5 r1/4	Betty Arbuthnott	GBR
5 p6 r1/4	Hedwig Rieder	SUI
6 p1 r1/4	Irena Nawrocka	POL
6 p2 r1/4	Nadia Boudesoque	MEX
6 p3 r1/4	Nélida Fullone	ARG
6 p4 r1/4	Betty Hamilton	CAN
6 p5 r1/4	Vera Hagemann	SUI
6 p6 r1/4	Adèle Christiaens	BEL
7 p1 r1/4	Tommy Dermody	IRL
7 p2 r1/4	Emilie Schwind	BEL
7 p6 r1/4	Emma Ruiz	MEX
DNS		BRA		1
DNS		BRA		2

Round One (31 July 1948)

Top four finishers in each pool advanced to quarter-finals.

Pool 1 (09:00)

Jury President	György Piller	HUN

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TD	TR
1	Maria Cerra	USA	5	1	–	–	Q
2	Anita Klüpfel	SUI	4	2	16	14	Q
3	Éva Kun	HUN	4	2	21	14	Q
4	Grethe Olsen	DEN	3	2	–	–	Q
5	Mary Meyer-van der Sluis	NED	2	4	–	17
6	Irena Nawrocka	POL	2	4	–	20
7	Tommy Dermody	IRL	0	6	–	–

Pool 2 (09:00)

Jury President	Renato Anselmi	ITA

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TD	TR
1	Karen Lachmann	DEN	6	0	–	–	Q
2	Renée Garilhe	FRA	5	1	–	–	Q
3	Irene Camber-Corno	ITA	3	3	–	15	Q
4	Fritzi Filz	AUT	3	3	–	17	Q
5	Anja Secrève	NED	2	4	–	16
6	Nadia Boudesoque	MEX	2	4	–	21
7	Emilie Schwind	BEL	0	6	–	–

Pool 3 (09:00)

Jury President	Julien Eggermont	BEL

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost
1	Ilona Elek	HUN	5	0	Q
2	Jan York	USA	4	1	Q
3	Jenny Addams	BEL	3	2	Q
4	Gytte Minton	GBR	1	4	Q
5	Rhoda Martin	CAN	1	4
6	Nélida Fullone	ARG	1	4
DNS		BRA	–	–		3

Pool 4 (11:00)

Jury President	György Piller	HUN

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TD	TR
1	Gabriele Zeilinger	AUT	4	1	–	–	Q
2	Françoise Gouny	FRA	3	2	–	10	Q
3	Kate Mahaut	DEN	3	2	–	12	Q
4	Velleda Cesari	ITA	3	2	–	13	Q
5	Enriqueta Mayora	MEX	2	3	–	–
6	Betty Hamilton	CAN	0	5	–	–
DNS		BRA	–	–	–	–		4

Pool 5 (11:00)

Jury President	Renato Anselmi	ITA

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TD	TR
1	Margit Elek	HUN	4	1	–	–	Q
2	Louisette Malherbaud	FRA	3	1	–	7	Q
3	Elena Libera	ITA	3	1	–	13	Q
4	Elsa Irigoyen	ARG	2	3	–	–	Q
5	Betty Arbuthnott	GBR	1	4	–	17
6	Vera Hagemann	SUI	1	4	–	18

Pool 6 (11:00)

Jury President	Julien Eggermont	BEL

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TR
1	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	5	1	9	Q
2	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR	5	1	15	Q
3	Irma de Antequeda	ARG	4	2	–	Q
4	Helena Dow	USA	3	3	–	Q
5	Hedwig Rieder	SUI	3	3	–
6	Adèle Christiaens	BEL	1	5	–
7	Emma Ruiz	MEX	0	6	–

Quarter-Finals (31 July 1948 — 15:00)

Top three finishers in each pool advanced to semi-finals.

Pool 1

Jury President	Ivan Osiier	DEN

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TR
1	Maria Cerra	USA	4	1	10	Q
2	Jenny Addams	BEL	4	1	13	Q
3	Gytte Minton	GBR	3	2	–	Q
4	Irma de Antequeda	ARG	2	3	15
5	Louisette Malherbaud	FRA	2	3	17
6	Gabriele Zeilinger	AUT	0	5	–

Pool 2

Jury President	Julien Eggermont	BEL

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost
1	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR	5	0	Q
2	Ilona Elek	HUN	3	2	Q
3	Fritzi Filz	AUT	3	2	Q
4	Renée Garilhe	FRA	3	2
=5	Elena Libera	ITA	0	4
=5	Kate Mahaut	DEN	0	4

Pool 3

Jury President	Carlo Filogamo	ITA

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TD	TR
1	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	4	1	19	10	Q
2	Margit Elek	HUN	4	1	18	10	Q
3	Irene Camber-Corno	ITA	3	2	–	–	Q
4	Grethe Olsen	DEN	2	3	–	–
5	Françoise Gouny	FRA	1	4	–	18
6	Helena Dow	USA	1	4	–	19

Pool 4

Jury President	József Hátszeghy	HUN

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TR
1	Karen Lachmann	DEN	4	1	7	Q
2	Éva Kun	HUN	4	1	12	Q
3	Velleda Cesari	ITA	3	2	–	Q
4	Jan York	USA	3	2	–
5	Elsa Irigoyen	ARG	1	4	–
6	Anita Klüpfel	SUI	0	5	–

Semi-Finals (2 August 1948 — 09:00)

Top four finishers in each pool advanced to final.

Pool 1

Jury President	György Rozgonyi	HUN

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TD	TR
1	Ilona Elek	HUN	5	0	–	–	Q
2	Karen Lachmann	DEN	3	2	–	12	Q
3	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR	3	2	–	13	Q
4	Fritzi Filz	AUT	2	3	–	–	Q
5	Irene Camber-Corno	ITA	2	3	–	–
6	Éva Kun	HUN	0	5	–	–

Pool 2

Jury President	Carlo Filogamo	ITA

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TD	TR
1	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	4	1	–	–	Q
=2	Maria Cerra	USA	3	2	15	13	Q
=2	Velleda Cesari	ITA	3	2	15	13	Q
4	Margit Elek	HUN	3	2	–	14	Q
5	Jenny Addams	BEL	2	3	–	–
6	Gytte Minton	GBR	0	5	–	–

Final Pool (2 August 1948 — 15:00)

Jury President	Georges Heyvaert	BEL

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bouts Won	Bouts Lost	TD	TR
1	Ilona Elek	HUN	6	1	27	15
2	Karen Lachmann	DEN	5	2	24	11
3	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	5	2	24	16
4	Maria Cerra	USA	5	2	23	16
5	Fritzi Filz	AUT	4	3	20	21
6	Margit Elek	HUN	1	6	16	26
7	Velleda Cesari	ITA	1	6	15	27
8	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR	1	6	10	27

Bout #1	Ilona Elek	HUN	4 – 2	Karen Lachmann	DEN
Bout #2	Ilona Elek	HUN	4 – 2	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT
Bout #3	Ilona Elek	HUN	4 – 2	Maria Cerra	USA
Bout #4	Ilona Elek	HUN	4 – 3	Margit Elek	HUN
Bout #5	Ilona Elek	HUN	4 – 2	Velleda Cesari	ITA
Bout #6	Ilona Elek	HUN	4 – 0	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR
Bout #7	Karen Lachmann	DEN	4 – 2	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT
Bout #8	Karen Lachmann	DEN	4 – 0	Fritzi Filz	AUT
Bout #9	Karen Lachmann	DEN	4 – 1	Margit Elek	HUN
Bout #10	Karen Lachmann	DEN	4 – 0	Velleda Cesari	ITA
Bout #11	Karen Lachmann	DEN	4 – 0	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR
Bout #12	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	4 – 1	Maria Cerra	USA
Bout #13	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	4 – 1	Fritzi Filz	AUT
Bout #14	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	4 – 2	Margit Elek	HUN
Bout #15	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	4 – 3	Velleda Cesari	ITA
Bout #16	Ellen Müller-Preis	AUT	4 – 1	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR
Bout #17	Maria Cerra	USA	4 – 2	Karen Lachmann	DEN
Bout #18	Maria Cerra	USA	4 – 3	Fritzi Filz	AUT
Bout #19	Maria Cerra	USA	4 – 0	Margit Elek	HUN
Bout #20	Maria Cerra	USA	4 – 2	Velleda Cesari	ITA
Bout #21	Maria Cerra	USA	4 – 1	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR
Bout #22	Fritzi Filz	AUT	4 – 3	Ilona Elek	HUN
Bout #23	Fritzi Filz	AUT	4 – 3	Margit Elek	HUN
Bout #24	Fritzi Filz	AUT	4 – 1	Velleda Cesari	ITA
Bout #25	Fritzi Filz	AUT	4 – 2	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR
Bout #26	Margit Elek	HUN	4 – 2	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR
Bout #27	Velleda Cesari	ITA	4 – 3	Margit Elek	HUN
Bout #28	Mary Glen-Haig	GBR	4 – 3	Velleda Cesari	ITA