Matthias Behr

German foil fencer

Matthias Behr

Matthias Behr at an interview in Tauberbischofsheim (2016)

Personal information
Born|  (1955-04-01) 1 April 1955 (age 70)
Tauberbischofsheim, West Germany
Sport
Sport| Fencing

Medal record

Men's fencing
Representing  West Germany
Olympic Games
| 1976 Montréal | Foil, team
| 1984 Los Angeles | Foil, team
| 1984 Los Angeles | Foil, individual
| 1988 Seoul | Foil, team

Matthias Behr (born 1 April 1955 in Tauberbischofsheim, Baden-Württemberg) is a former German foil fencer. He won a gold medal and three silvers at three Olympic Games.[1][2]

## Biography

[edit]

Matthias Behr attended the Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim and fought for the Fencing-Club Tauberbischofsheim.[3] Matthias Behr is married to the former foil fencer Zita Funkenhauser. After termination of his career as a competitive athlete, he became principal of the part-time boarding school at the Olympic base of Tauberbischofsheim.

During his career as a fencer, he was part of a group of foil fencers from Tauberbischofsheim, or from the competitive centre there, who dominated their field nationally and internationally for almost 15 years.

On 19 July 1982, Matthias Behr, and foil fencing in general, became widely known outside of those interested in the sport when, at the world championship in Rome, Behr's blade broke and struck incumbent world champion Vladimir Smirnov in the eye, leading to Smirnov's death nine days later.[4]

Forty years later, amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Behr called Smirnov's former wife in Ukraine, and gave her son-in-law and two grandchildren refuge during the war.[5]

Matthias Behr was one of the close confidants of Emil Beck and became his successor as team leader of the National German Fencing Team.

## Singles successes

[edit]

* 1984 Silver Summer Olympics, Los Angeles
* 1987 Silver FIE World Championships in Fencing, Lausanne

## Team successes

[edit]

* 1973 Silver FIE World Championships in Fencing, Gothenburg
* 1976 Gold Summer Olympics, Montreal
* 1977 Gold FIE World Championships in Fencing, Buenos Aires
* 1979 Bronze FIE World Championships in Fencing, Melbourne
* 1981 Bronze FIE World Championships in Fencing, Clermont-Ferrand
* 1983 Gold FIE World Championships in Fencing, Vienna
* 1984 Silver Summer Olympics, Los Angeles
* 1985 Silver FIE World Championships in Fencing, Barcelona
* 1986 Silver FIE World Championships in Fencing, Sofia
* 1987 Gold World Championships, Lausanne
* 1988 Silver Summer Olympics, Seoul

## Awards

[edit]

* Silbernes Lorbeerblatt

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Olympics Statistics: Matthias Behr". databaseolympics.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
2. ^ "Matthias Behr Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
3. ^ 75 Jahre Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim, StieberDruck GmbH, 113 Seiten, TBB 1997, S.49
4. ^ "Sports People; Fencer Hurt in Match". The New York Times. July 20, 1982.
5. ^ Josh Peter (July 28, 2022). "A tragedy transformed: 40 years after fencing accident, Ukraine war reunites impacted families; Matthias Behr killed Emma Smirnova's first husband - Ukrainian Vladimir Smirnov - in a fencing accident in 1982. Now, Behr is giving Smirnova's son-in-law and two grandchildren refuge during the war". USA TODAY.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matthias Behr.

(In German)

* [1] \- Ein tödlicher Stich und viele Wunden (A deadly stab and many wounds) (FAZ)
* [2] \- Differenzen um Teamchefposten (Misunderstandings concerning the position of the team leader) (Die Welt)

* v
* t
* e

Olympic Fencing Champions in Men's Team Foil

* 1904:  Fonst, Van Zo Post, Díaz (ZZX)
* 1920:  Olivier, Baldi, Costantino, A. Nadi, N. Nadi, Puliti, Speciale, Terlizzi (ITA)
* 1924:  Cattiau, Coutrot, de Luget, Ducret, Gaudin, Jobier, Labatut, Perotaux (FRA)
* 1928:  Pignotti, Gaudini, Pessina, Guaragna, Puliti, Chiavacci (ITA)
* 1932:  Gardère, Lemoine, Bondoux, Bougnol, Cattiau, Piot (FRA)
* 1936:  Di Rosa, Gaudini, Guaragna, Marzi, Bocchino, Verratti (ITA)
* 1948:  Bonin, Buhan, Lataste, Bougnol, d'Oriola, Rommel (FRA)
* 1952:  Netter, Buhan, Lataste, Noël, d'Oriola, Rommel (FRA)
* 1956:  Mangiarotti, Di Rosa, Bergamini, Spallino, Carpaneda, Lucarelli (ITA)
* 1960:  Zhdanovich, Sisikin, Midler, Sveshnikov, Rudov (URS)
* 1964:  Zhdanovich, Sisikin, Midler, Sveshnikov, Sharov (URS)
* 1968:  Magnan, Revenu, Noël, Berolatti, Dimont (FRA)
* 1972:  Woyda, Koziejowski, Kaczmarek, Dąbrowski, Godel (POL)
* 1976:  Bach, Hein, Reichert, Behr, Sens-Gorius (FRG)
* 1980:  Pietruszka, Flament, Jolyot, Bonnin, Boscherie (FRA)
* 1984:  Numa, Borella, Cipressa, Cerioni, Scuri (ITA)
* 1988:  Romankov, Mammadov, Aptsiauri, Ibragimov, Koretsky (URS)
* 1992:  Wagner, Schreck, Weidner, Koch, Weißenborn (GER)
* 1996:  Shevchenko, Mammadov, Pavlovich (RUS)
* 2000:  Ferrari, Plumenail, Guyart, Lhotellier (FRA)
* 2004:  Cassarà, Sanzo, Vanni (ITA)
* 2012:  Baldini, Avola, Cassarà, Aspromonte (ITA)
* 2016:  Safin, Cheremisinov, Akhmatkhuzin (RUS)
* 2020:  Le Péchoux, Lefort, Mertine, Pauty (FRA)
* 2024:  Shikine, Iimura, Matsuyama, Nagano (JPN)

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