1912 Olympic Games Official Report Part 2

make its appearance once more on the competition “piste”, or track,with the hope that it will be found there in future Olympic Games, too.In other respects, the composition of the programme of the OlympicGames of Stockholm was the same as that of the London competitionin 1908, the Swedish Committee being happy to be able tocomply with the wish expressed in many quarters, that the team competitionin any of the arms might precede the individual meeting withthe same weapon.Questions that were destined, on the other hand, to occasion bothtrouble and disappointment were:a) that of the length of the weapon, and, in connection with thismatter, the question of the grasp;b) that of the extent of the vulnerable surfaces in foil-and sabre fencing.During the eleboration of the regulations for these details (the“Règlement de Combat des Armes de France” being taken as a guidefor this work it was found that the rules in force varied very much,not only as far as different countries were concerned, but also withinthe same nation. In order to decide fairly between all the conflictingregulations it was necessary, therefore, to gain a knowledge of thewishes in the matter entertained by various nations. This gaverise to an instructive and interesting correspondence with persons representingthe art of the sword, in the countries interested in the question.No difficulty was found in the reduction of the vulnerable surfacein the sabre competition to include nothing but the trunk alone, while,in most cases, the proposal of France to extend the vulnerable surfacein foil competitions so as to include the upper arm, too, wasdisapproved of. No other objections, however, were raised againstthe proposed regulations, with the exception that, in the case of theépée competitions, Italy asked for a lengthening of the blade to 94centimetres, a step that was opposed by France, however.This proved to be a point in which it was found impossible toreconcile the conflicting interests. It would occupy altogether toomuch space to give a detailed account of the debate that arose withregard to this matter. The result, however, was, that the originalregulations were retained, modified as regards the questions of the extentof the vulnerable surface, in the sabre competitions, and of the graspof the épée, while the wish of the Italians concerning the lengtheningof the blade, and that of the Frenchmen, for an increase of the vulnerablesurface in the foil competitions, were negatived.The result of this was, that France declared that it could not takepart in the foil competitions, and the Italians refused to enter forthe épée events. Both nations, however, sent in numerous entries forall the other fencing competitions, so that it was a painful surprise foreverybody when, at the very last minute, France determined to take no partat all in any of the events. The Committee received this information onlytwo days before the beginning of the competitions, and no officialexplanation of the grounds of the French withdrawal was ever given.On the 1 June 1912, the date when entries were closed, 17nations had entered a total of about 250 competitors.457