The event was won by Alessandro Puccini of Italy, the nation's eighth victory in the men's foil (matching France for most all-time).

The three world champions since the last Games were Alexander Koch of Germany, Rolando Tucker of Cuba, and Dmitriy Shevchenko of Russia; all were competing in Atlanta.

[2] Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan each made their debut in the men's foil.

France and the United States each made their 20th appearance, tied for most of any nation; France had missed only the 1904 (with fencers not traveling to St. Louis) and the 1912 (boycotted due to a dispute over rules) foil competitions, while the United States had missed the inaugural 1896 competition and boycotted the 1980 Games altogether.

The 1996 tournament vastly simplified the competition format after a horrendously complex system used in the previous Games in Barcelona.