Hryhoriy Kriss

Hryhorij Kriss ( Ukrainian Григорій Якович Крісс or Russian Григорий Яковлевич Крисс Grigori Jakowlewitsch Kriss ; born December 24, 1940 in Kiev , Ukrainian SSR ) is a former Soviet sword fencer , won four Olympic medals.

Athletic career

The Soviet champion of 1964 was largely unknown internationally when he won the gold medal in epee fencing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in front of Brit Henry Hoskins and his Soviet compatriot Guram Kostawa . In the team competition, the Soviet team was eliminated from the later Olympic champions from Hungary. In the following year, the French won the 1965 World Fencing Championships against the British, the Soviet team with Vladimir Donjin , Bruno Habārovs , Guram Kostawa, Hryhorij Kriss and Alexei Nikanchikov received the bronze medal. The Fencing World Championships in 1966 took place in Moscow, the Soviet team won the silver medal in front of a home crowd behind the French in the line-up of Vladimir Godsiew , Guram Kostava, Hryhorij Kriss, Alexei Nikanchikov and Yuri Smoljakow . 1967 won the world championships in Montreal in the epee individual Nikantschikow before Kriss. The team won the two together with Kostava, Viktor Modsolewski and Jossyp Vitebskyj .

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City , the Hungarian Győző Kulcsár won gold in both the individual and the team. In the epee singles the decision was made in the playoff in favor of the Hungarian, Kriss received silver and the Italian Gianluigi Saccaro bronze. In the team standings, the Hungarians won 7: 4 against the Soviet team with Kriss, Modsolewski, Nikanchikov, Smoljakow and Vitebskyj. In 1969 only Kriss and Nikantschikow belonged to the Soviet team at the World Championships in Havana . Together with Serhij Paramonow , Igor Valetov and Georgi Zažitski they won the team title against the Hungarians. Two years later Hryhorij Kriss won the individual title at the Fencing World Championships in Vienna in 1971 , the Soviet team with Kriss, Modsolewski, Nikantschikow, Paramonow and Valetov won the silver medal behind the Hungarians. At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich , Kriss was eliminated from the individual competition in the semifinals. The Soviet team with Kriss, Modsolewski, Paramonow, Valetov and Zažitski lost to the Hungarians in the semi-finals, but then defeated the French in the battle for bronze.

The left-hander from the Kiev Army Sports Club was the Soviet champion in epee fencing in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968 and 1970. In 1989 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame .

literature

• Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 .
• Volker Kluge: Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle III. Mexico City 1968 - Los Angeles 1984. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-328-00741-5 .

Web links

• Hryhorij Kriss in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• World championships in epee fencing on sport-komplett.de
• Portrait in the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

Footnotes

1. ↑ Volker Kluge: The Chronicle II . P. 812, note 282