Fencing History

Olympic Tales

Tales from the past olympics

1936, Berlin. As a student, Endre Kabos, received a fencing outfit as a birthday gift. He hid it in his wardrobe, but his friends soon came across it and teased him mercilessly (as friends do). The next day, to spite them, he enrolled in a fencing club, and went on to compile a record 24-1 to win the individual men’s Sabre at the Berlin Olympics. In the individual Epee, defending champion Cornaggia-Medici (who came 3rd) demonstrated his acute awareness of distance in a quarter-final bout. Perplexed by 2 straight double hits, he insisted his opponents blade was the wrong length. Measurements showed that it was, in fact, half an inch too long.

1972, Munich. The team men’s sabre was won by Italy, the Soviet Union being runners-up. The decisive bout was won by Mario Aldo Montano, who had previously been warned by the officials not to remove his mask before a decision had been announced. After scoring the winning point, the 205 pound Montano leapt up and down while his team manager and his cousin (a team-mate), desperately held on to his mask until the official call was made.

1976, Montreal. In the pentathlon, British Pentathletes noticed something odd about defending sliver-medalist Major Boris Onischenko. In a bout against one team member, the light registered a hit for the Ukranian, even though he didn’t appear to have touched his opponent. When another lost a hit without being touched, the weapon was taken away to be examined by the Jury of Appeal. An hour or so later, Onischenko was disqualified. It seemed that, desperate for victory in his final international competition, he had wired his sword with a well hidden push-button circuit breaker, which enabled him to register a hit whenever he wanted. It’s unknown how long he had been using this trick, however his fencing scores had shown a marked upward surge from 1970He was spirited away from the Olympic Village, and never seen outside the USSR again.

1980, Moscow: In the semifinals of the Mens team foil, Soviet world champion Vladimir Lapitsky was accidently run through the chest when his Polish opponents foil broke and pierced his leather protective clothing. The sword severed a blood vessel, but missed his heart.

Source: The Complete Book of the Olympics,
Wallechinsky, 1998