Richard Kruse
 At the Challenge International de Paris 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richard Adam Kruse | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
30 July 1983 London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6' 3" (1.9 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 12 st 8 lbs (85 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Fencing | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Salle Paul | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | GB | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Ziemek Wojciechowski | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Richard Kruse (born 30 July 1983 in London, United Kingdom) is a British fencer who has three times 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 a British fencer since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, when Fiona McIntosh was eighth in the women's foil,[3] and the best by a British man since the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, when Bill Hoskyns won the silver medal in the individual épée.[4] In 2006 Kruse won the silver medal in the men's foil event at the European Fencing Championships.[5]
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. He finished 14th.[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, then gold in Venice before winning a silver medal at the 2009 European Fencing Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Kruse finished the season ranked fourth in the world.[6]
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 Halsted in the last eight to reach the final against Andrea Baldini of Italy. Baldini won the final by a single point, 15–14 to take the gold medal.[7]
Kruse is coached by former Polish Olympian turned British national Ziemek Wojciechowski.[5]
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.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Richard Kruse Biography and Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ↑ "Richard Kruse – Fencing". BBC Sport. 7 August 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ↑ "FIE List of Results Jeux Olympiques Barcelone 1992". www.fie.ch. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
- ↑ "FIE List of Results Jeux Olympiques Tokyo 1964". www.fie.ch. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Richard Kruse". British fencing. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ↑ "FIE Fencer Rankings and results Richard KRUSE". www.fie.ch. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
- ↑ "British fencer Richard Kruse lands silver at World Cup". BBC Sport. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ↑ "Richard Kruse". Retrieved 13 June 2012.