The men's team foil was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1960 Summer Olympics programme. It was the tenth appearance of the event. The competition was held on 2 September 1960. 77 fencers from 16 nations competed.
Competition format
The competition combined pool play with knockout rounds, a change from prior tournaments which used pool play all the way through. The first round consisted of pools, with the 18 teams entered in the competition divided into 6 pools of 3 teams. The top 2 teams in each pool after a round-robin advanced. Sweden and Spain did not start, leaving 2 of the pools with only 2 teams. The 12 teams remaining after the pool play competed in a four-round single-elimination bracket, with a bronze medal match between the semifinal losers. The winners of the first 4 pools received byes in the round of 16.
Each team match consisted of each of the four fencers on one team facing each fencer on the other team, for a maximum of 16 total bouts. An 8–8 tie would be resolved by touches received. Bouts were to 5 touches. Only as much fencing was done as was necessary to determine pool placement (in the first round) or the winning team (in the knockout rounds), so not all matches went to the full 16 bouts but instead stopped early (typically when one team had 9 bouts won).
Rosters
Australia
Brian McCowage
Michael Sichel
Zoltan Okalyi
David McKenzie
Belgium
Jacques Debeur
André Verhalle
François Dehez
Franck Delhem
France
Jacky Courtillat
Jean-Claude Magnan
Guy Barrabino
Claude Netter
Christian d'Oriola
Germany
Jürgen Brecht
Tim Gerresheim
Eberhard Mehl
Jürgen Theuerkauff
Great Britain
Bill Hoskyns
Allan Jay
Ralph Cooperman
Angus McKenzie
René Paul
Hungary
Ferenc Czvikovszki
Jenő Kamuti
Mihály Fülöp
László Kamuti
József Gyuricza
József Sákovics
Italy
Edoardo Mangiarotti
Luigi Carpaneda
Alberto Pellegrino
Mario Curletto
Aldo Aureggi
Japan
Heizaburo Okawa
Mitsuyuki Funamizu
Tsugeo Ozawa
Kazuhiko Tabuchi
Luxembourg
Jean Link
Robert Schiel
Édouard Didier
Roger Theisen
Jean-Paul Olinger
Morocco
Charles El-Gressy
Abderraouf El-Fassy
Abderrahman Sebti
Abbes Harchi
Mohamed Ben Joullon
Jacques Ben Gualid
Poland
Egon Franke
Ryszard Parulski
Jan Różycki
Ryszard Kunze
Witold Woyda
Romania
Iosif Szilaghi
Sorin Poenaru
Attila Csipler
Tănase Mureșanu
Soviet Union
Viktor Zhdanovich
Yury Sisikin
Mark Midler
German Sveshnikov
Yury Rudov
United Arab Republic
Farid El-Ashmawi
Moustafa Soheim
Mohamed Gamil El-Kalyoubi
Ahmed El-Hamy El-Husseini
Sameh Abdel Rahman
Ahmed Zein El-Abidin
United States
Eugene Glazer
Hal Goldsmith
Joseph Paletta, Jr. Albie Axelrod Daniel Bukantz
Venezuela
Luis García
Freddy Quintero
Augusto Gutiérrez
Jesús Gruber
Results
Round 1
Pool A
Luxembourg defeated Australia, as did France. This eliminated Australia; Luxembourg and France faced off to determine their placing within the group. Luxembourg took first in the group with a win over France.
Pool B
Sweden was entered in this pool but did not start. Both Hungary and the United Arab Republic were guaranteed advancement; they faced each other to determine placing. Hungary were the winners.
Pool C
Spain was entered in this pool but did not start. Both Italy and Romania were guaranteed advancement; they faced off to determine placing. Italy prevailed.
Pool D
Belgium defeated Japan, followed by the Soviet Union also defeating Japan. This eliminated Japan; Belgium and the Soviet Union faced off to determine placing. The Soviets won.
Pool E
Great Britain and then Germany each defeated Venezuela, eliminating the South Americans. Germany won over Great Britain to determine placement.
Pool F
Poland defeated Morocco, followed by the United States defeating Morocco. The United States then defeated Poland to determine placement within the group.