Kárpáti was the second man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the men's sabre (Jenő Fuchs in 1908 and 1912) and fifth to win multiple medals of any color.

His teammate Zoltán Horváth took silver while Wladimiro Calarese of Italy finished with the bronze.

Five of the eight finalists from 1956 returned: gold medalist Rudolf Kárpáti of Hungary, silver medalist Jerzy Pawłowski of Poland (who, in 1968, would finally break the Hungarian run of nine straight gold medals in the event), fourth-place finisher Jacques Lefèvre of France, fifth-place finisher (and three-time medalist, with bronze in 1936, gold in 1948, and silver in 1952) Aladár Gerevich of Hungary, and sixth-place finisher Wojciech Zabłocki of Poland.

The three world champions since the last Olympics were Pawłowski (1957), Yakov Rylsky of the Soviet Union (1958), and Kárpáti (1959).

[2] Israel, Morocco, New Zealand, Tunisia, and Vietnam each made their debut in the men's sabre.