Herbert Polzhuber (June 1938 – 24 June 2015) was an Austrian fencer and

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anc ...

. Considered one of Austria's greatest ''

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

'' fencers, he participated at four consecutive

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

and

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, being a fencer in each in addition to a pentathlete in his first appearance. He is also partly remembered for an incident at the 1965 World Pentathlon Championships, where he allegedly drank 10 beers and a bottle of

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cognac production falls under French appella ...

before firing his pistol into the ground and

passing out Passing may refer to: Social identity * Passing (sociology), presenting oneself as a member of another sociological group ** Passing (gender), presenting oneself as being cisgender ** Passing (racial identity), presenting oneself as a member of ...

Biography

Polzhuber was born in June 1938 in

Wien en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

(present-day Vienna, Austria). He was a member of the athletic club Heeressportverein Wien (commonly shortened to HSV Wien), and was one of only four Olympians affiliated with them. He competed in several sports and was talented in both

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

, specializing in the ''

'' event, and modern pentathlon, a contest featuring

pistol shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms ( firearms and airguns, in forms suc ...

, ''épée'' fencing,

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of Swimming (sport), swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races ar ...

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

and equestrian show jumping. During his athletic career, he had a height of 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) and a weight of 85 kg (187 lb). Polzhuber began his international career at the 1961

World Military Championships The World Military Championships (WMC) are the world championships of the military sports, regularly organized by the Conseil International du Sport Militaire, in each of the 26 disciplines of the sport military. History CISM had its roots in Worl ...

in Breda, winning a gold medal in the ''épée'' fencing event. Two years later, he returned to the event as a member of Austria's ''épée'' team (along with Marcus Leyrer,

Roland Losert Roland Losert (born 6 January 1945) is a retired Austrian fencer who won the world title in épée in 1963. He also won junior world titles in épée (1963) and foil (1964 and 1965). Losert competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics in ...

, and

Rudolf Trost Rudolf Trost (born 27 August 1940) is an Austrian épée and foil fencer and modern pentathlete. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and com ...

), helping them place fifth. He was selected to represent his country at the Olympics in

for the first time, and competed in the individual and

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

modern pentathlon events, as well as the

and individual ''épée'' events, the latter of which he did not start. In the individual modern pentathlon event, he placed 33rd, while in the team event Austria placed 10th, and in the team fencing competitions they tied for ninth. Polzhuber participated the following year at the World Pentathlon Championships. An incident involving him there changed how the laws relating to

performance-enhancing substance Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

s were applied. According to reports from the Hungarian team there, Polzhuber posted good scores in the first two events, equestrian and fencing, and was set to participate in the shooting contest. Before the shooting event, he allegedly drank 10 glasses of beer and an entire bottle of

, after which he stepped onto the shooting platform, shot all his bullets directly into the ground and passed out. Its unclear the reason he consumed alcohol before the event, although '' Der Spiegel'' and the Hungarian publication '' Borsodihir'' both state that at the time athletes in shooting sports commonly drank it prior to competition to "calm their nerves." Following this incident, several athletic organizations banned alcohol and performance-enhancing substance laws were enforced more strictly. Two years later, Polzhuber competed at both the Military World Championships and the

World Fencing Championships The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE; ''International Fencing Federation'' in English). Contestants may participate in foil, épée, and sabre events. Hi ...

, winning the silver medal in the individual ''épée'' event at the former while helping the Austrian team place fifth in the latter. He was selected for his second Olympic appearance in

, competing at both the

and individual ''épée'' events. In the team event Austria placed ninth, while in the individual event Polzhuber had the best placement of his Olympic career. He began by advancing from the first pool with a record of 4–1. He then went 3–2 in the second pool and advanced to the double elimination bracket, winning his first two matches before being sent to the losers bracket with a loss to

Viktor Modzolevsky Viktor Modzolevsky (russian: Виктор Игоревич Модзолевский; 13 April 1943 – 20 November 2011) was a Soviet fencing, fencer. He won a silver medal in the team épée event at the 1968 Summer Olympics and a bronze in ...

. Polzhuber rose through the losers bracket and defeated

Henryk Nielaba Henryk Nielaba (born 5 September 1933) is a Polish fencer. He won a bronze medal in the team épée event at the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the X ...

to earn a spot in the finals. He won only one of five matches in the final round to finish at fifth place in the tournament, the best he would have in his eventually four Olympic appearances. In 1970, Polzhuber competed at the Military World Championships in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and the World Fencing Championships. At the Military Championships, he won first place in the singles fencing event and also won gold in the team event. At the World Fencing Championships, he was a member of the team that finished fifth. By the end of the year, Polzhuber was ranked as the fourth-best fencer in the world. He returned to the World Fencing Championships in 1971 in the team event, helping them place 6th. Polzhuber was selected for his third Olympic appearance in

, competing in only the team event and helping them tie for ninth. He was selected to the Olympics for a final time in

, and competed for the Austrian team that placed 11th. After retiring, Polzhuber became a trainer for his former athletic club, Heeressportverein Wien. He also was a teacher at the Austrian military school HSNS, being ranked a commander. He died on 24 June 2015 in Vienna, at the age of 77. His death notice in the

European Fencing Confederation The European Fencing Confederation (EFC; french: Confédération européenne d'escrime, CEE) is an international body created in 1991, charged with the promotion and development of fencing in Europe. It organises the European Fencing Championships ...

newsletter described him as "one of Austria's best former ''épée'' fencers."

References

Notes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polzhuber, Herbert 1938 births 2015 deaths Austrian male fencers Austrian épée fencers Austrian male modern pentathletes Olympic fencers for Austria Olympic modern pentathletes for Austria Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers from Vienna