Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Women's foil
The women's foil was one of seven fencing events on the fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event. The competition was held on 29 November 1956. 23 fencers from 11 nations competed.
Competition format
The competition used a pool play format, with each fencer facing the other fencers in the pool in a round robin. Bouts were to 4 touches. Barrages were used to break ties necessary for advancement. However, only as much fencing was done as was necessary to determine advancement, so some bouts never occurred if the fencers advancing from the pool could be determined.Results
Round 1
The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the semifinals.Pool 1
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 15 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 10 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 14 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 14 | Qualified for semifinals Won barrage vs. Cesari 4–2 | ||
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 17 | Lost barrage vs. Delbarre 2–4 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 21 | |||
| 7 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 24 |
Pool 2
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 17 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 19 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 3 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 19 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 23 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 18 | |||
| 6 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 22 | |||
| 7 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 23 | |||
| 8 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 29 |
Pool 3
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 6 | 1 | 27 | 10 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 2 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 17 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 3 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 19 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 21 | Qualified for semifinals | ||
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 21 | |||
| 6 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 24 | |||
| 7 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 20 | |||
| 8 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 28 |
Semifinals
The top 4 fencers in each pool advanced to the final.Semifinal 1
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 2 | Qualified for final | ||
| 2 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 6 | Qualified for final | ||
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | Qualified for final | ||
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 12 | Qualified for final | ||
| 5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 17 | |||
| 6 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 20 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 1 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 11 | Qualified for final | ||
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 13 | Qualified for final | ||
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 14 | Qualified for final | ||
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 13 | Qualified for final Won barrage vs. Sákovicsné Dömölky 4–2 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 14 | Lost barrage vs. Sheen 2–4 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 19 |
Final
Orban-Szabo defeated Sheen in the round-robin, but had to face her again in a barrage after finishing tied at 6–1. In the barrage, Sheen was the victor to win the gold medal.| Rank | Fencer | Nation | Wins | Losses | Notes | ||
| 6 | 1 | 26 | 20 | Won barrage vs. Orban-Szabo 4–2 | |||
| 6 | 1 | 27 | 17 | Lost barrage vs. Sheen 2–4 | |||
| 5 | 2 | 26 | 14 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 23 | |||
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 25 | |||
| 6 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 20 | |||
| 7 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 25 | |||
| 8 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 27 |