1912 Olympic Games Official Report Part 2

FENCING.RULES FOR THE COMPETITIONS.General Rules.Every competitor by the fact of his entry agrees to accept the rules in force.Ignorance of these rules and of any later additions will not be accepted as an excusefor any contravention of the rules for the Tournament.Only amateurs are qualified to compete, or to be members of the jury, or to beorganisers of the Tournament.Any one who is an amateur according to the laws of his own country will berecognized as such.The Amateur qualification must be confirmed by a certificate from the AmateurFencing Association or, failing this organisation, by the Olympic Committeeof the competitor’s own country, who shall be responsible for its validity.Any fencer who, within one year after these games, shall be proved tohave infringed the rules for Amateurs, shall be disqualified, and all the prizes thathe has gained must be returned to the Committee, who may award them to anothercompetitor. The disqualification of one member of a team disqualifies the wholeteam.The Swedish Committee will not pay any expenses of the competitors or jurorsin this tournament.There is no entrance fee; all entries must be made in writing (entries by telegramwill not be accepted) before June 6 1912, by the Olympic organisation ofthe respective country on official note-paper and provided with a certificate testifyingthat those who have entered are amateurs.The competitors must observe the following conduct in respect to the jurors:Complaints or observations must be made with due courtesy.The decision of the Jury must be accepted absolutely.The competitors bind themselves on their honour to fight all bouts to a finishunless physically prevented, and to fence in such a manner as to obtain the bestpossible place. Any agreement made by the fencers with the object of alteringthe result of a pool can lead to their disqualification.If a fencer withdraws or is disqualified, or is unable to continue the contest, theresult of all his previous contests shall be deleted from the score-sheet as if theyhad never existed, but, if the fencer had been a Winner, before retiring owing toreasons acceptable to the president of the jury, he will retain his winning points,even if all the subsequent assaults were counted as defeats.No fencer may change his weapon from one hand to another during the actionof an assault, except in case of an accident acknowledged by the Jury, but he isallowed to make different attacks with different hands.As a rule no rest will be allowed during an assault.If a competitor (or a team) appointed to fence in a pool does not make anappearance at the instance of the President, his name will be scratched from thatpart of the Tournament. He shall not be replaced and the other competitors willreap the benefit of his absence.An objection or claim can be made by any competitor in the individual competitions,and by the captains of teams. It must be made in writing by a memberof the National Olympic Committee, not later than one hour after the contest, tothe International Jury of Honour, whose decision shall be final.1016