Max Geuter

Max Geuter (born September 16, 1937 in Aachen ; † August 27, 2018 ) was a German fencer and fencing official. He became German champion and took part in the Olympic Games three times. After his career as an active fencer, he was Vice President of the German Fencing Federation , Secretary General of the European Fencing Association and a member of the Executive Committee of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime . Geuter was honorary president of his former fencing club, FTV 1860 Frankfurt.

Sporting successes

Geuter began fencing in 1954 at FTV Frankfurt, after having tried various other sports. In 1963 he became German champion with the sword. In the foil competition he was third in the same year. In 1964 and 1972 he was runner-up with the sword, in 1970 he took third place. In the mid-1960s, Geuter spent over a year in the United States, where he was allowed to take part in the national fencing championships and in 1966 he won the American epee championships.

From 1964 to 1972 Geuter took part in the Olympic Games three times, but never started in the individual, only as part of the men's sword team. He was not nominated for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome for no apparent reason. This experience and the fact that it was not taken into account in the individual competitions at the later Olympic Games led Geuter to frustration and dissatisfaction with the officials at the time, in particular with the then President of the German Fencing Association, Klaus-Dieter Güse . Geuter's best result with the German epee team was fourth place at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City . In 1964 in Tokyo , the team finished 6th, in 1972 in Munich they were eliminated in the third of five rounds.

Career as a functionary

Geuter began his official career as a sports warden in Hessen. In 1978 he became vice-president of the German Fencing Federation, responsible for the interior, and in 1985 he was finally vice-president of competitive sports. During his time in charge of competitive sport, the German fencers, led by national coach Emil Beck , won 284 international medals. At the international level Geuter was active as a referee in all three weapons, was a member of several commissions of the international fencing federation FIE and was elected to its executive committee in 1993. At the same time he was Secretary General of the European Fencing Federation EFC. One of his greatest achievements is the introduction of senior fencing beginning with the first world championships in men's epee in Cape Town in 1997. In 2016 he was elected president to the senior citizens' council. In December 2017, Geuter ended his work on the Executive Committee of the FIE, and at the EFC Congress in June 2018 he was also supposed to give up his post at the European Fencing Federation. In his fencing club, the FTV 1860 Frankfurt, Geuter was honorary president. He was one of nine honorary members of the German Fencing Association. In 2000 he was elected honorary member of the FIE and a few years later was inducted into the FIE Hall of Fame. Geuter died on Monday, August 27, 2018.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Information Letter no. 30-2018. (PDF; 591 kB) European Fencing Confederation, August 3, 2017, accessed on May 5, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Tables in: Deutscher Fechter-Bund (Ed.), Andreas Schirmer (Red): En Garde! Allez! Touchez! 100 years of fencing in Germany - a success story. Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Aachen 2012, p. 218ff.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Andreas Schirmer: I preferred to be a fencer. In: Fechtsport Magazin. Official organ of the German Fencing Federation e. V. Volume 36, No. 2, 2017, pp. 20f.
4. ↑ Max Geuter in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original ).
5. ↑ ^{a b} The fencing world mourns Max Geuter. Deutscher Fechter-Bund eV , August 30, 2018 (accessed September 4, 2018)
6. ↑ Honorary Members. German Fencing Association, accessed on July 13, 2017 .