The Romanians went into the event safe in the knowledge that Olympic qualification was assured, with China, Estonia, Russia, South Korea and the United States also having done enough earlier in the season.

They beat Russia 45-40 in today’s final, having earlier beaten Estonia 45-36 in the semi-finals.

With no African teams competing in Argentina's capital, it was impossible for that zone to be represented in this discipline in Rio de Janeiro, thus freeing up a spare qualification spot.

The Italians were in contention for making it to the Games and met their minimum requirement of seventh place.

But Estonia’s third-place finish secured automatic qualification as one of the top four nations in the International Fencing Federation rankings, while Ukraine earned enough points to nail down the European zonal spot.

France finished back in 11th place which was enough to stay ahead of Italy and pick up the spare berth freed up by Africa.

The men’s épée Fencing World Cup in Vancouver saw Hungary win gold and claim Olympic qualification in dramatic fashion.

The Hungarians registered a 42-36 win over Kazakhstan in the final, thereby denying their opponents a spot in Brazil.

France, Ukraine and Italy went to the Canadian city with Olympic qualification already secured.

Egypt could have joined them with a top-16 finish but fell agonisingly short, losing 26-25 to Japan.

That result had a big outcome on the qualification picture, securing places for South Korea, Russia and Switzerland in one fell swoop.

Venezuela topped the list of teams from the Americas and a win in Vancouver from either hosts Canada or the US was required for them to be overhauled.

Those nations finished 17th and 12th, respectively, meaning Venezuela’s individual gold medallist from London 2012, Ruben Limardo-Gascon, is likely to defend his crown in Brazil.

Countries have until June 6 to nominate the fencers in their teams.

Fencers from countries that missed out on épée team qualification will get the chance to secure an individual spot at the Grand Prix in Budapest from March 18 to 20.

Attention now turns to sabre next weekend and the men's and women's World Cup events in Poland’s capital Warsaw and the Belgian city of Sint-Niklaas respectively.