Richard Kruse (born 30 July 1983) is a former
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
right-handed
foil
Foil may refer to:
Materials
* Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine
* Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal
* Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food
* Tin foil, metal foil ma ...
fencer and four-time
Olympian. In 2015, he was part of the Great Britain team that shocked Olympic champions Italy to win the first
European Games
The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic Games, Olympic tradition contested by sportsperson, athletes from European nations and several European Olympic Committees#Notes, transcontinental countries. The Games were ...
gold in team foil, the first British gold medal in a team fencing event at World or European level for fifty years. He retired in 2021.
Career
Kruse won his first international medal, a silver, at the 2001 European Under 20 Championships and in 2002 won gold in at the same event.
He made his Olympic debut at the
2004 Games in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Greece. Competing in the
men's individual foil. He received a bye in the first round, beat
China's
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
Wang Haibin
Wang Haibin (; born 27 December 1973 in Nanjing, Jiangsu) is Chairman of the China Fencing Association and Head Coach of the China National Fencing Team. In November 2021 in Lausanne, he was elected to a 3-year term on the executive committee ...
in round two and
Dan Kellner
Daniel Kellner (born April 16, 1976, in Livingston, New Jersey) is an American Olympic Foil (fencing), foil Fencing, fencer. He has won gold and silver medals at the Pan American Games, and a gold medal at the Maccabiah Games.
Early life
Kellne ...
of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the third round before being defeated 8–15 by
Andrea Cassarà
Andrea Cassarà (born 3 January 1984) is an Italian left-handed foil fencer, two-time individual European champion, 2011 individual world champion, and three-time Olympics medalist.
Cassarà won a bronze medal in the individual men's foil even ...
in the quarter-finals.
His eighth-place finish was the best by a British fencer since the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
in Barcelona, when
Fiona McIntosh
Fiona McIntosh (born 1960) is an English-born Australian author of adult and children's books. She was born in Brighton, England and between the ages of three and eight, travelled a lot to Africa due to her father's work. At the age of nineteen ...
was eighth in the women's foil,
and the best by a British man since the
1964 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...
in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, when
Bill Hoskyns
Henry William Furse "Bill" Hoskyns MBE (19 March 1931 – 4 August 2013) was a British fencer who appeared at six Olympic Games.,
Fencing career
Hoskyns, born in London won two silver medals in 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. No British fence ...
won the silver medal in the individual épée.
In 2006 Kruse won the silver medal in the men's foil event at the
European Fencing Championships
The European Fencing Championships is an annual top-level European fencing competition organized by the European Fencing Confederation.
History
The first competition bearing the name of "European Fencing Championships" was held in Paris in 1921. T ...
.
At the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China, Kruse again participated in the
men's individual foil event. He defeated
Virgil Sălișcan of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
in the round of 32 but was eliminated at the last 16 stage after a 9–10 loss to
Germany's Peter Joppich
Peter Joppich (born 21 December 1982) is a German foil fencer.
Biography
Joppich is a five-time World Champion in Foil with four Individual titles and one Team title. He won the gold medal in 2010 World Fencing Championships after beating Lei S ...
. He finished 14th.
[
In 2009 Kruse had his most successful season to date. He won a gold medal at the World Cup event in ]Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and a silver medal in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, then gold in Venice before winning a silver medal at the 2009 European Fencing Championships The 2009 European Fencing Championships was held at the International Fair Plovdiv in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situate ...
held in Plovdiv
Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...
, Bulgaria. Kruse finished the season ranked fourth in the world.
At the 2011 World Cup event in Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea, Kruse won the silver medal in the men's foil. he won five matches, including a 15–11 defeat of compatriot Laurence Halsted
Laurence Cassøe Halsted (born 22 May 1984) is a British foil fencer, silver medallist in the 2008 European Championships and author of Becoming A True Athlete: A Practical Philosophy For Flourishing Through Sport.
Career
Halsted is the son o ...
in the last eight to reach the final against Andrea Baldini
Andrea Baldini (born 19 December 1985) is an Italian Foil (fencing), foil fencing, fencer, several time European and World champion and team Olympic champion in 2012. He is the only foil fencer in history to have obtained four golds (European and ...
of Italy. Baldini won the final by a single point, 15–14 to take the gold medal.
Kruse is coached by former Polish Olympian turned British national Ziemowit Wojciechowski
Ziemowit Wojciechowski (born 3 October 1948) is a Polish former fencer. He is more commonly known as Ziemek. He competed in the individual and team foil events at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He was married to British Olympic fencer Susan Wriggle ...
.[ He is also a coach for his ZFW fencing club.]
In 2012, Richard Kruse won bronze at the Wakayama Grand Prix. Only 2 months later he claimed another bronze at the European Championships in Legnano, having been seeded 45th after the poule stages. At the London Olympics later that year, he finished 17th in the men's individual event, losing to Artur Akhmatkhuzin
Artur Kamilevich Akhmatkhuzin (russian: Артур Камилевич Ахматхузин; born 21 May 1988) is a Russian foil fencer, silver medallist at the 2013 World Fencing Championships.
Career
Akhmatkhuzin, who is of Tatar descent, made ...
in the last 32. He was part of the British team that came 6th, losing to Italy in the quarter-finals and then beating France and losing to Russia in the ranking rounds.
In 2016 Kruse again attended the Olympic Games in Rio. He placed fourth overall in the Men's Individual Foil, losing to Timur Safin of Russia in the Bronze Medal Match.
In 2018 Kruse won silver in the individual men's foil event at the World Championships in Wuxi, China.
After winning gold at the Prince Takamodo World Cup in Tokyo, on 26 January 2019, he was ranked number one in the world, the first British fencer to achieve that position.
Kruse retired in May 2021. He now works as a fencing coach for Salle Paul Fencing Club in Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...
. When he retired in 2021, he had been a six times British fencing champion, winning six foil titles at the British Fencing Championships
The British Fencing Championships are held annually to determine the British champion. The Championships are currently held at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield.
The championships were not held during World War I, World War II and in 202 ...
, from 2001 to 2018.
Medal Record
World Championship
European Championship
Grand Prix
World Cup
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruse, Richard
1983 births
Living people
British male foil fencers
Olympic fencers of Great Britain
Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from London
Fencers at the 2015 European Games
European Games medalists in fencing
European Games gold medalists for Great Britain
Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics