Henry William Furse Hoskyns MBE (19 March 1931 – 4 August 2013) was a British fencer who appeared at six Olympic Games.,

Fencing career

Hoskyns, born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

won two

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

s in 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. No British fencer has won an Olympic medal since. He competed with all three weapons (doing so in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics) but he was especially effective at

Épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

, where he was 1958

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. He is one of only five fencers to compete in at least six Olympic Games. He was eight times British champion, winning three foil, four epee and one sabre title at the

British Fencing Championships The British Fencing Championships are held annually to determine the British champion. The Championships are currently held at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield or the Lee Valley Athletics Centre. These championships (known as the Nationa ...

. Only

Edgar Seligman Edgar Isaac Seligman (14 April 1867 – 27 September 1958) was an accomplished American-born British painter, who exhibited at the Fine Art Society and Royal Academy and was a highly competitive épée, foil, and sabre fencer. Seligman compete ...

had previously achieved winning the British title with the three different weapons and his great rival,

Allan Jay Allan Louis Neville Jay MBE (30 June 1931 – 5 March 2023) was a British five-time-Olympian foil and épée fencer, and world champion. Early life Jay was born in London, England, and was Jewish. His father died fighting in World War II in ...

failed to win the sabre title. During the time (1950 to 1970) that fencing was a sport at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, Hoskyns won nine gold (four individual) and one silver medal. Individually, he won gold in both épée and sabre in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

, gold in épée and silver in foil

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, gold in Épée in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. 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, he was part of the British silver medal-winning épée team. At the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo, Hoskyns won silver in the

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

, losing to Soviet fencer

Grigory Kriss Grigory Yakovlevich Kriss (, , born 24 December 1940) is a retired Soviet Olympic épée fencer who won four Olympic medals. Early life Kriss was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and is Jewish. He was an officer in the Red Army of the Soviet Union. Fenc ...

in the final.

References

External links

Malcolm Fare's Biography of Bill Hoskyns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskyns, Bill 1931 births 2013 deaths British male fencers Olympic fencers for Great Britain Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in fencing Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Fencers from London Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists in fencing Commonwealth Games silver medallists in fencing Fencers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Fencers at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Fencers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games English Olympic competitors Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games

Fencing career

See also

References

External links