Arnold Ralph Cooperman (16 November 1927 – 22 March 2009) was a British three-time Olympic foil and sabre fencer.

Personal life

Cooperman was born in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

, England, and was Jewish.

Fencing career

He won the British junior championships in foil and sabre in 1950 and 1951, and was a three times British fencing champion, winning the

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

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 ...

in 1954, 1960 and 1961. Cooperman was a medalist at the 1950 Maccabiah Games, the 1953 Maccabiah Games, 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 ...

. He competed in the world championships in 1953. He competed on behalf of Great Britain in foil and sabre at the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

in Melbourne, and in Rome in 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 ...

and Tokyo in 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 ...

. He represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

and 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 the foil and sabre respectively at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war G ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. At the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: ''Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad'' 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18 to 26 July 1958. It was the sixth edition of what would come to be known as the Commonwealth Games, the ...

won a gold and silver in the sabre events and four years later at the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North ...

he won triple gold and a bronze medal in the foil (behind teammate Allan Jay). He won his 11th medal in total and 6th and 7th gold medals in both sabre and team sabre at the

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. The event was followed by the 1966 Commonweal ...

References

External links

Ralph Cooperman
on Olympedia
Ralph Cooperman
on Olympics.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooperman, Ralph 1927 births 2009 deaths British male fencers Jewish foil fencers Jewish sabre fencers Jewish English sportspeople Olympic fencers for Great Britain Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics People from Stoke Newington Sportspeople from the London Borough of Hackney Maccabiah Games medalists in fencing Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Great Britain Maccabiah Games silver medalists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games gold medallists in fencing Commonwealth Games silver medallists in fencing Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in fencing Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Fencers at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Fencers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Fencers at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Fencers at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Competitors at the 1950 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1953 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 1969 Maccabiah Games Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games