Richard Kruse

Richard Kruse
Personal information
Full name	Richard Adam Kruse
Born	(1983-07-30) 30 July 1983 (age 38) London, England
Nationality	British
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Fencing
Weapon	Foil
Hand	Right-handed
National coach	Ziemowit Wojciechowski
Club	ZFW
FIE ranking	Current Ranking
Medal record World Championships 2018 Wuxi Individual World Combat Games 2013 Saint Petersburg Individual European Games 2015 Baku Team European Championships 2006 Izmir Individual 2009 Plovdiv Individual 2010 Leipzig Individual 2010 Leipzig Team 2012 Legnano Individual 2013 Zagreb Team 2016 Torun Team

Richard Kruse (born 30 July 1983) is a former British right-handed foil fencer and four-time Olympian.^[1] In 2015, he was part of the Great Britain team that shocked Olympic champions Italy to win the first European Games gold in team foil, the first British gold medal in a team fencing event at World or European level for fifty years. He retired in 2021.^[2]

Career[]

Kruse won his first international medal, a silver, at the 2001 European Under 20 Championships and in 2002 won gold in at the same event.^[3]

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.^[4] 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,^[5] 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.^[6] In 2006 Kruse won the silver medal in the men's foil event at the European Fencing Championships.^[7]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Kruse again participated in the men's individual foil event. He defeated Virgil Sălișcan 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.^[4]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

Kruse is coached by former Polish Olympian turned British national Ziemowit Wojciechowski.^[7] He is also a coach for his ZFW fencing club.^[10]

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.^[11] At the London Olympics later that year, he finished 17th in the men's individual event, losing to Artur Akhmatkhuzin in the last 32.^[12] He was part of the British team that came 6th, losing to Italy in the quarter-finals and then beating France and losing to Russia in the ranking rounds.^[13]

In 2016 Kruse again attended the Olympic Games in Rio. He placed fourth overall in the Men's Individual Foil, losing to Timur Safin of Russia in the Bronze Medal Match.^[14]

In 2018 Kruse won silver in the individual men's foil event at the World Championships in Wuxi, China.

After winning gold at the Prince Takamodo World Cup in Tokyo, on 26 January 2019, he was ranked number one in the world, the first British fencer to achieve that position.^[15]

Medal Record[]

World Championship[]

Year	Location	Event	Position
2018	Wuxi, China	Individual Men's Foil	2nd[16]

European Championship[]

Year	Location	Event	Position
2006	İzmir, Turkey	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2009	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Individual Men's Foil	2nd[17]
2010	Leipzig, Germany	Individual Men's Foil	3rd[18]
2010	Leipzig, Germany	Team Men's Foil	3rd[19]
2012	Legnano, Italy	Individual Men's Foil	3rd[20]
2013	Zagreb, Croatia	Team Men's Foil	3rd[21]
2016	Toruń, Poland	Team Men's Foil	3rd[22]

Grand Prix[]

Year	Location	Event	Position
01/23/2009	Paris, France	Individual Men's Foil	2nd[23]
02/13/2009	Venice, Italy	Individual Men's Foil	1st[24]
05/24/2010	St. Petersburg, Russia	Individual Men's Foil	2nd[25]
04/28/2012	Wakayama, Japan	Individual Men's Foil	3rd[26]
11/27/2015	Turin, Italy	Individual Men's Foil	2nd[27]
03/11/2016	Havana, Cuba	Individual Men's Foil	1st[28]
05/19/2017	Shanghai, China	Individual Men's Foil	1st[29]
05/19/2018	Shanghai, China	Individual Men's Foil	1st[30]

World Cup[]

Year	Location	Event	Position
01/05/2008	Copenhagen, Denmark	Individual Men's Foil	3rd[31]
01/17/2009	Copenhagen, Denmark	Individual Men's Foil	1st[32]
01/16/2010	Copenhagen, Denmark	Individual Men's Foil	1st[33]
05/09/2010	Seoul, South Korea	Individual Men's Foil	2nd[34]
05/20/2011	Seoul, South Korea	Individual Men's Foil	2nd[35]
04/25/2014	Seoul, South Korea	Individual Men's Foil	3rd[36]
10/20/2017	Cairo, Egypt	Individual Men's Foil	1st[37]
11/09/2018	Bonn, Germany	Individual Men's Foil	1st[38]
01/25/2019	Tokyo, Japan	Individual Men's Foil	1st[39]

Retirement[]

Kruse retired in May 2021. He now works as a fencing coach for Salle Paul Fencing Club in Hendon.^[40]

References[]