The event was won by Edoardo Mangiarotti of Italy, the nation's fourth consecutive victory in the men's épée (passing France for most all-time).

It was also the fourth consecutive year that Italy had at least two fencers on the podium in the event, as Edoardo's brother Dario Mangiarotti took silver.

[2] Four of the 10 finalists from the 1948 Games returned: silver medalist Oswald Zappelli of Switzerland, bronze medalist Edoardo Mangiarotti of Italy, eighth-place finisher Émile Gretsch of Luxembourg, and tenth-place finisher Ronald Parfitt of Great Britain.

Also competing was Dario Mangiarotti, Edoardo's elder brother, part of the silver medal 1948 Italian team who had to withdraw from the individual event due to injury (his replacement, Luigi Cantone, won gold in the individual competition).

Australia, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, the Soviet Union, Venezuela, and Vietnam each made their debut in the event.

Ties were broken through fence-off bouts ("barrages") in early rounds if necessary for determining advancement.

[3] Fencers from the four nations that reached the team event final received byes to the quarterfinals.