Albert "Albie" Axelrod (February 12, 1921 – February 24, 2004) was an American

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

fencer. He was a five-time Olympian for the US, won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the 1960 Olympics, and was the only American men's foil fencer to reach the finals at the world championships until

Gerek Meinhardt Gerek Lin Meinhardt ( ; born July 27, 1990) is an American right-handed foil fencer. Meinhardt is a two-time individual NCAA champion, 12-time team Pan American champion, three-time individual Pan American champion and 2019 team world champion. ...

won a bronze medal in the

2010 World Fencing Championships The 2010 World Fencing Championships were held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France 4–13 November. Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations A record of 110 nations competed, with many making their debuts includin ...

Fencing career

High school

Axelrod was Jewish, the son of

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

immigrants who had fled the

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

, and grew up in the Bronx. A

heart murmur Heart murmurs are unique heart sounds produced when blood flows across a heart valve or blood vessel. This occurs when turbulent blood flow creates a sound loud enough to hear with a stethoscope. The sound differs from normal heart sounds by th ...

kept him from participating in most sports, so his mother encouraged him to learn fencing at

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School ( ) is a co-ed, State school, public, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in Manhattan, New York City. The school, commonly called "Stuy" ( ) by its students, faculty, a ...

in New York City. After graduation in 1938, he studied with 1920 Olympic champion Giorgio Santelli and won amateur titles as a member of the Salle Santelli club.

College

Axelrod served in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and then attended the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. His college team reached the National Team Foil Championships in 1948, the same year he was U.S.

Intercollegiate Fencing Association The Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) was the oldest collegiate fencing conference in the United States. It was affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Membership In its final season, the IFA had 11 members. Corne ...

and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Champion.

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).

World Championships

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

Olympics

Most notably, Axelrod was on five U.S. Olympic Teams (1952–68). His greatest athletic achievement was winning the

in Individual

Foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

competition at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

in Rome. The entire USA Foil Fencing Team at the 1956 Olympics was Jewish, with the other Jewish fencers being

Daniel Bukantz Daniel Bukantz (December 4, 1917 – July 26, 2008) was an American four-time individual United States national foil fencing champion, Maccabiah Games individual foil champion, four-time Olympic fencer, fencing referee, and a dentist. He has bee ...

Harold Goldsmith Harold David Goldsmith (born Hans Goldschmidt), known as Hal (July 20, 1930 – March 13, 2004) was an American Olympic foil and epee fencer. Early and personal life Goldsmith was born in Gensungen, Felsberg, Hessen, Germany, and was Jew ...

Nathaniel Lubell Bennet Nathaniel Lubell (August 15, 1916 – September 17, 2006) was an American three-time Olympian fencer. Early and personal life Lubell was born in New York City, and was Jewish. Later in life he lived in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Fencin ...

, and

Byron Krieger Byron Lester Krieger (July 20, 1920 – November 8, 2015) was an American Foil (fencing), foil, sabre and épée Fencing, fencer. Krieger represented the United States in the Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki and 1956 in Melbourne, and in the 1951 Pa ...

Pan American Games

He was also a member of four U.S.

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

teams. He won three team gold medals, one team silver, and four individual silvers in Foil.

Maccabiah Games

Axelrod, who was

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish, won many gold and silver medals in foil and sabre in his six appearances at the World

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

in Israel, including the

1957 Maccabiah Games Twenty-one countries sent 980 athletes to compete in the 1957 5th Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish athletics competition similar to the Olympics. The opening ceremony on September 15, 1957, was held in Ramat Gan Stadium, with athletes para ...

(where he won the gold medal in foil), the

1961 Maccabiah Games The 6th Maccabiah Games were held in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1961, with 1,100 athletes from 27 countries competing in 18 sports. The Games were officially opened in an Opening Ceremony on August 29, 1961, in Ramat Gan Stadium by Israeli president Yi ...

(in which he won a gold medal in individual foil, and a gold medal in team foil with Olympic teammate

), the

1965 Maccabiah Games The 7th Maccabiah Games in 1965 saw 1,500 athletes from 29 different countries compete in 21 sports. It was the first Maccabiah Games for Iran, Jamaica, Peru, and Venezuela. The United States delegation won the most gold medals, followed by Israel ...

in foil, and the

1969 Maccabiah Games At the 8th Maccabiah Games from July 29 to August 7, 1969, 1,450 athletes from 27 countries competed in 22 sports in Israel. The final gold medal count was the United States in first place (64), Israel second (48; though it won the greatest numb ...

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."Albert Axlerod at 83 was Champion Fencer", ''Boston Globe'', Boston, Massachusetts, pg. 59, 6 March 2004

Approach to fencing

"I have no purely defensive moves", Axelrod told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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."

Editor

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

Hall of Fame inductions

Axelrod was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (IJSHOF) () is the international hall of fame for Jewish athletes and special contributors to the world of sport. The purpose of the IJSHOF is to honor Jewish individuals, worldwide, who have accompli ...

in 1973. He was inducted into the

USFA Hall of Fame The United States Fencing Association (USFA) is the national governing body for the sport of fencing in the United States. The USFA was founded in 1891 as the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) by a group of New York fencers seeking indepe ...

in 1974.

References

External links

Pan Am Game resultsObituary in "The Sunday Times," 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Axelrod, Albert 1921 births 2004 deaths American male foil fencers Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics CCNY Beavers fencers Jewish American sportspeople Jewish foil fencers Jewish sabre fencers Jews from New York (state) Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in fencing Stuyvesant High School alumni United States Navy sailors International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from the Bronx American people of Russian-Jewish descent United States Navy personnel of World War II Competitors at the 1957 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1961 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1965 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1969 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Maccabiah Games silver medalists for the United States Maccabiah Games medalists in fencing Fencers at the 1955 Pan American Games Fencers at the 1959 Pan American Games Fencers at the 1963 Pan American Games Fencers at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in fencing Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in fencing 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American sportsmen