Matthias Behr (born 1 April 1955 in

Tauberbischofsheim Tauberbischofsheim is a German town in the north-east of Baden-Württemberg on the river Tauber with a population of about 13,200. It is the capital of the Main-Tauber district. It is a popular tourist destination due to its numerous historical ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

) is a former German foil fencer. He won a gold medal and three silvers at three Olympic Games.

Biography

Matthias Behr attended the Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim''75 Jahre Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim'', StieberDruck GmbH, 113 Seiten, TBB 1997, S.49 and fought for the Fencing-Club Tauberbischofsheim. Matthias Behr is married to the former foil fencer

Zita Funkenhauser Zita-Eva Funkenhauser (born 1 July 1966) is a retired, Romanian-born German foil fencer. In 1984 and 1988 she won two team gold and bronze medal at the Olympics competing for West Germany and a silver competing for Germany. Funkenhauser is ma ...

. After termination of his career as a competitive athlete, he became principal of the part-time boarding school at the Olympic base of Tauberbischofsheim. During his career as a fencer, he was part of a group of foil fencers from Tauberbischofsheim, or from the competitive centre there, who dominated their field nationally and internationally for almost 15 years. On 19 July 1982, in the middle of his career, Matthias Behr, and foil fencing in general, became widely known outside of those interested in the sport, due to a deadly accident at the world championship in Rome, when Behr's blade broke and fatally injured the most successful foil fencer of the time and incumbent world champion, 28-year-old Soviet Ukrainian Vladimir Smirnov, in the head. Matthias Behr was one of the close confidants of

Emil Beck Emil Beck (20 July 1935, Tauberbischofsheim – 12 March 2006) was a German fencing coach. Biography Emil Beck was born in Tauberbischofsheim, in the Main-Tauber-District of Baden-Württemberg in Germany on 12 July 1935. The former haird ...

and became his successor as team leader of the National German Fencing Team.

Singles successes

*1984 Silver

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

, Los Angeles *1987 Silver FIE World Championships in Fencing, Lausanne

Team successes

*1973 Silver FIE World Championships in Fencing, Gothenburg *1976 Gold

, Montreal *1977 Gold FIE World Championships in Fencing, Buenos Aires *1979 Bronze FIE World Championships in Fencing, Melbourne *1981 Bronze FIE World Championships in Fencing, Clermont-Ferrand *1983 Gold FIE World Championships in Fencing, Vienna *1984 Silver Summer Olympics, Los Angeles *1985 Silver FIE World Championships in Fencing, Barcelona *1986 Silver FIE World Championships in Fencing, Sofia *1987 Gold World Championships, Lausanne *1988 Silver

, Seoul

Awards

Silbernes Lorbeerblatt Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and ...

References

External links

(''In German'')

- ''Ein tödlicher Stich und viele Wunden'' (A deadly stab and many wounds) (FAZ)

- ''Differenzen um Teamchefposten'' (Misunderstandings concerning the position of the team leader) (Die Welt) {{DEFAULTSORT:Behr, Matthias 1955 births Living people People from Tauberbischofsheim Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region) German male fencers Olympic fencers of West Germany Fencers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for West Germany Olympic silver medalists for West Germany Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics