Richard Kruse (born 30 July 1983 in London, United Kingdom) is a British fencer who has twice represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics.[1]
Kruse competes in the foil and won his first international medal, a silver, at the 2001 European Under 20 Championships and in 2002 won gold in at the same event.[2]
He made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. Competing in the men's individual foil. He received a bye in the first round, beat China's Wang Haibin in round two and Dan Kellner of the United States in the third round before being defeated 8–15 by Andrea Cassarà in the quarter-finals.[1] His eighth place finish was the best by any British fencer since the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[2] In 2006 Kruse won the silver medal in the men's foil event at the European Fencing Championships.[3]
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Kruse again participated in the men's individual foil event. He defeated Virgil Saliscan of Romania in the round of 32 but was eliminated at the last 16 stage after a 9–10 loss to Germany's Peter Joppich.[1]
In 2009 Kruse had his most successful season to date. He won a gold medal at the World Cup event in Copenhagen and a silver medal in Paris before winning a silver medal at the 2009 European Fencing Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Kruse finished the season ranked fifth in the world.[4]
At the 2011 World Cup event in Seoul, South Korea, Kruse won the silver medal in the men's foil. he won five matches, including a 15–11 defeat of compatriot Laurence Halstead in the last eight to reach the final against Andrew Baldini of Italy. Baldini won the final by a single point, 15–14 to take the gold medal.[5]
Kruse is coached by British national team coach Ziemek Wojciechowski.[3]