Marco Marin of Italy took silver and Peter Westbrook of the United States took bronze.

It was the first medal in the event in many Games for each of the three nations since 1964 for France, since 1960 for Italy, and since 1904 for the United States), as the men's sabre competitions had been dominated by Hungary and the Soviet Union.

None of the finalists from 1980 returned; five of the six were from boycotting countries and Michele Maffei (at age 38) was no longer on the Italian team.

[2] The People's Republic of China, Monaco, and the Virgin Islands each made their debut in the men's sabre.

The final phase was a single elimination tournament with a bronze medal match.