Albert Axelrod

Albert "Albie" Axelrod (February 12, 1921 – February 24, 2004)[2] was an American foil fencer.[3]

Albert Axelrod
Personal information
Born(1921-02-12)February 12, 1921
The Bronx, United States
DiedFebruary 24, 2004(2004-02-24) (aged 83)
The Bronx, United States
Sport
SportFencing
College teamCity College of New York
ClubSalle Santelli
Medal record
Men's fencing
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1960 Rome Foil individual[1]
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place1955 Mexico CityIndividual Foil
Silver medal – second place1955 Mexico CityTeam Foil
Silver medal – second place1959 ChicagoIndividual Foil
Gold medal – first place1959 ChicagoTeam Foil
Silver medal – second place1963 Sao PauloIndividual Foil
Gold medal – first place1963 Sao PauloTeam Foil
Silver medal – second place1967 WinnipegIndividual Foil
Silver medal – second place1967 WinnipegTeam Foil
Maccabiah Games

He was a five-time Olympian for the US, won a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics, and was the only American men's foil fencer to reach the finals at the world championships until Gerek Meinhardt won a bronze medal in the 2010 World Fencing Championships.[4]

Fencing career

High school

Axelrod was Jewish,[5] the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who had fled the pogroms, and grew up in the Bronx.[6] A heart murmur kept him from participating in most sports, so his mother encouraged him to learn fencing at Stuyvesant High School in New York City.[4] After graduation in 1938, he studied with 1920 Olympic champion Giorgio Santelli and won amateur titles as a member of the Salle Santelli club.[7]

College

Axelrod served in the US Navy in World War II, and then attended the City College of New York.[4] His college team reached the National Team Foil Championships in 1948, the same year he was U.S. Intercollegiate Fencing Association and NCAA Champion.[3]

US Championships and rankings

He was ranked # 1 in the United States in 1955, 1958, 1960, and 1970, and was rated in the top ten 22 times in the years 1942 to 1970. Demonstrating exceptional dominance and skill in a sport where Americans had formerly lacked top competitors, he was a five-time winner of the National Foil Team Championship (1940, 1950, 1952, 1954, and 1958), and his team won the National Three-Weapon team crown five times (1949, 1952, 1954, 1962, and 1963).[3]

World Championships

He was a member of the United States World Championship team four times. His best placing was fifth, in 1958.[3]

Olympics

Most notably, Axelrod was on five U.S. Olympic Teams (1952–68).[7] His greatest athletic achievement was winning the bronze medal in Individual Foil competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.[3] The entire USA Foil Fencing Team at the 1956 Olympics was Jewish, with the other Jewish fencers being Daniel Bukantz, Harold Goldsmith, Nathaniel Lubell, and Byron Krieger.[8][9]

Pan American Games

He was also a member of four U.S. Pan American Games teams. He won three team gold medals, one team silver, and four individual silvers in Foil.[3]

Maccabiah Games

Axelrod, who was Jewish, won many gold and silver medals in foil and sabre in his six appearances at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel, including the 1957 Maccabiah Games (where he won the gold medal in foil), the 1961 Maccabiah Games (in which he won a gold medal in individual foil, and a gold medal in team foil with Olympic teammate Byron Krieger), the 1965 Maccabiah Games in foil, and the 1969 Maccabiah Games.[10][11][3][12][13][14][15]

Personal

Professionally Axlerod worked for the Gruman Corporation as an electrical engineer, but would drive to Manhattan to practice fencing three nights a week. He died of a heart attack at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx on February 24, 2004. He left a wife, Henrietta, one son, and a daughter.[16][4]

Approach to fencing

"I have no purely defensive moves", Axelrod told The New York Times in 1966. "Everyone attributes my skill to the fact that I'm a physical freak, that I have tremendously fast reflexes. I'm not a natural athlete. When it comes to fencing, I'm completely synthetic. I had to practice arduously and break down into tiny components every move I make."[4]

Editor

Axelrod was the Editor of "American Fencing" magazine (1986–90).[6]

Hall of Fame inductions

Axelrod was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1973.[17]

He was inducted into the USFA Hall of Fame in 1974.[18]

See also

References
  1. "Olympics Statistics: Albert Axelrod". databaseolympics.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  2. "Saying Goodbye – Remembering those in the sports world who died in 2004". Sports Illustrated. December 30, 2004. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  3. "Albert Axelrod". Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  4. Martin, Douglas (March 5, 2004). "Albert Axelrod, 83, a Champion in Fencing". New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  5. Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics: With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781903900871. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  6. "Fencing Forum".
  7. "Albert Axelrod Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  8. Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists. Sussex Academic Press. 2004. ISBN 9781903900888.
  9. Vecsey, George (December 2, 2007). "A Righteous Recipe for Longevity". The New York Times.
  10. "Jewish Post 20 August 1965 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov.
  11. "Albert Axelrod". www.jewishsports.net.
  12. Israel Digest: A Bi-weekly Summary of News from Israel. Israel Office of Information. 1955.
  13. "History | Maccabi USA". April 14, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-04-14.
  14. "1969 Maccabiah Games Borack, Micahnik, Axelrod". Museum Of American Fencing.
  15. "U.S. Team Annexes Men's Track and Field Laurels as Maccabiah Games End; OVER-ALL HONORS GAINED BY ISRAEL Host Team Has 226 Points --Kiwitt, Relay Quartet Help U.S. Tally 197 Heat Bothers Athletes Aussie Takes Title". timesmachine.nytimes.com.
  16. "Albert Axlerod at 83 was Champion Fencer", Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, pg. 59, 6 March 2004
  17. "Elected Members". Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  18. Shaw, Andy. "Axelrod, Albert". US Fencing Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
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