Matthias Behr

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]

Matthias Behr
Matthias Behr at an interview in Tauberbischofsheim (2016)
Personal information
Born (1955-04-01) 1 April 1955
Tauberbischofsheim, West Germany
Sport
SportFencing
Medal record
Men's fencing
Representing  West Germany
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1976 MontréalFoil, team
Silver medal – second place1984 Los AngelesFoil, team
Silver medal – second place1984 Los AngelesFoil, individual
Silver medal – second place1988 SeoulFoil, team

Biography

Matthias Behr attended the Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim[3] and fought for the Fencing-Club Tauberbischofsheim. 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, in the middle of his career, Matthias Behr, and foil fencing in general, became widely known outside of those interested in the sport, due to a deadly accident at the world championship in Rome, when Behr's blade broke and fatally injured the most successful foil fencer of the time and incumbent world champion, 28-year-old Soviet Ukrainian Vladimir Smirnov, in the head.

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

Team successes
  • 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

References
  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
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(In German)

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