Fencing at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's épée
Italy's six-Games gold medal streak in the men's individual épée ended with the nation missing the podium entirely; Gianluigi Saccaro finished fourth after losing the bronze-medal barrage to Kostava.The field included the previous five World Champions: Bill Hoskyns of Great Britain (1958), Habārovs (1959), Jack Guittet of France (1961), István Kausz of Hungary (1962), and Roland Losert of Austria (1963, the reigning champion).Belgium and the United States each appeared for the 13th time, tied for most among nations.It was the first time, other than the odd "extra final" round in 1928, that bracket play was used in the event.The format began with two rounds of pool play that narrowed the field to 24 fencers, continued with three rounds of knockout brackets that reduced the competitors to 4, and finished with a final pool featuring those fencers.