James-Andrew Davis (born 3 July 1991) is a British fencer, European champion in 2014. He competed in men's foil at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Career

Davis was born and brought up in Barnet,

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

. He became interested in fencing at the age of four, while waiting for his mother to pick up his brother for his own sport at a Saturday club and fenced at clubs including RLS Fencing and Finchley Foils. In 2008 he became the first Briton to climb a podium at European Cadet Championships with a bronze medal in Rovigo. He claimed another bronze medal, this time with the team, at the 2010 Junior European Championships in Lobnya. Beginning preparation for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

on home ground, in London, Davis was ordered by his coach to lose weight or be dropped from Team GB. Davis shed more than in 18 months and his fencing improved accordingly: he climbed from No.346 at the end of the 2009–10 season to No.29 on the eve of the Olympics and was allocated one of Great Britain's quota places as hosts. Davis received a bye in the round of 64, but lost 15–10 to five-time World champion Peter Joppich of Germany. In the team event Great Britain knocked off Egypt in the first round, but were defeated 45–40 by Italy, who eventually won the competition, and finished 6th after the placement rounds. In the 2012–13 season Davis became in Saint-Petersburg the first Briton since 2009 to win a Grand Prix. This result, and three quarter-finals in other World Cup events, pushed him into the world Top 16. At the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in Zagreb he made his way to the semi-finals, where he lost 15–18 to Russia's

Aleksey Cheremisinov Aleksey Borisovich Cheremisinov (; born 9 July 1985) is a Russian right-handed foil fencer, two-time team European champion, two-time individual European champion, 2014 individual world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2016 team Olympic champi ...

, and came away with a bronze medal. In the team event, Britain overcame France in the quarter-finals, but fell 45–42 against Poland. They defeated Russia 45–33 to earn Davis a second bronze medal. He finished the season No.7 in world rankings. At the beginning of the 2013–14 season Davis went to San Francisco to train at the Massialas Foundation with USA national coach Greg Massialas. He achieved two quarter-finals in World Cup events. At the

in Strasbourg he had a close win against young Alexander Choupenitch of the Czech Republic, then overpowered 15–8 Peter Joppich and met Aleksey Cheremisinov in the final. Davis was led 10–6 when the referee interrupted the bout: with temperatures above , his sweat-drenched jacket was registering false positives. Davis was able to refocus after changing his kit and won Britain's first European foil gold. Cheremisinov took his revenge in the team event, where Russia disposed of Britain in the quarter-finals. At the

World Championships 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 ...

in Kazan reached the quarter-finals, where he was defeated 15–6 by France's

Enzo Lefort Enzo Lefort (born 29 September 1991) is a French right-handed foil fencer. Lefort is a four-time team European champion, 2014 team world champion, and two-time individual world champion. A three-time Olympian, Lefort is a 2016 team Olympic si ...

. In the team event, Britain were largely overpowered by Italy in the quarter-finals and finished 8th. Davis ended up world No.6, his best ranking so far. In 2019, he won the

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 ...

title at the British Fencing Championships. Davis studies psychology at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

. He is also a fencing coach for Ziemowit Wojciechowski's fencing club

References

External links

Profile
at the European Fencing Confederation {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, James British male fencers Living people Olympic fencers for Great Britain Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 1991 births Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Games competitors for Great Britain Fencers at the 2023 European Games 21st-century British sportsmen