Siegfried Friedrich "Fritz" Flesch (11 March 1872 – 11 August 1939) was an Austrian

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

fencer who competed during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Olympic fencing career

Born in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, Flesch was 27 years old when he came second in the Austrian sabre championships in 1899, the next year he competed for Austria at the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

in Paris, in the first round of the

event he was one of the sixteen fencers to qualify to the next round, there he finished third out of a group of eight fencers so qualified for the final pool. In the final pool of eight fencers Flesch won four of his seven matches to finish in third place for the bronze medal, thus becoming the first Jewish fencer to win an Olympic medal. He returned to Olympic competition at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

in London, now aged 36 years old he again participated in the

event. In his first round he won his pool after winning all five match ups, however in the second pool of matches he could only win one against the other four fencers in his pool so was eliminated and was ranked 24th overall in the event.

Personal life

Flesch was Jewish.

References

External links

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Jews in Sports bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flesch, Siegfried Austrian male sabre fencers Olympic bronze medalists for Austria Olympic fencers of Austria Fencers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Jewish male sabre fencers 1872 births 1939 deaths Sportspeople from Brno Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Jewish Austrian sportspeople Place of death missing

Olympic fencing career

Personal life

See also

References

External links