It's been four years since Italy won gold in the men's team foil competition. In Brazil, they return to the piste to defend their title.
The projected favorites to win it all see two-time gold medalist Andrea Cassara and Giorgio Avola return from the London squad.
Joining them is Daniele Garrozzo who is fresh off winning gold in the individual foil competition in which U.S. fencer Alexander Massialas came in second.
The United States will pair Massialas with Miles Chamley-Watson and Gerek Meinhardt who exited the individual foil early. They will be joined by alternate Race Imboden.
The U.S. will look to earn a rematch with the Italians. They pulled off an upset in London downing France in the quarterfinal to set up a meeting with Italy in the semis.
Italy picked apart the young team, winning by 21 points. Team USA proceeded to drop the bronze medal bout to Germany, losing by 18 touches.
Since then, the foursome won silver at the 2013 World Championships, the team's first-ever medal at Worlds, and have appeared in back-to-back Worlds quarterfinals.
U.S. & World
France and Russia also figure to factor into medal contention. France, led by Jeremy Cadot, who has been a top ten fencer for two consecutive years, won gold at Worlds in 2014.
2014 world champion Aleksei Cheremisinov and Artur Akhmatkhuzin headline the Russian team. Akhmatkhuzin earned bronze at Worlds in 2015.
