Mangiarotti's father, a master fencer, began giving Edoardo and his brother Dario fencing lessons at the age of eight. Edoardo was naturally right-handed but converted to the left hand under the urging of his father, who believed it was a competitive advantage. Mangiarotti was 17 years old when he competed at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, helping Italy to win the team épée gold medal. He won three more team Olympic golds (1952, 1956, and 1960) and a silver (1948) in the épée competition, as well as a team gold (1956) and three silvers (1948, 1952, and 1960) in the foil. An accomplished technical fencer, Mangiarotti also enjoyed individual success at the Olympics. At the 1952 Games in Helsinki, Finland, he captured a gold medal in the épée competition and a silver in the foil. He also won individual bronze medals (1948, 1956) in the épée, and his 13 Olympic medals are the most ever collected by a fencer. Mangiarotti's brother Dario won a gold medal and two silver medals in Olympic competition.