Albert Axelrod
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| Born | February 12, 1921 The Bronx, United States |
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| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. The Bronx, United States |
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| Sport | Fencing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Albert Axelrod, known as Albie, (February 12, 1921, in The Bronx, New York – February 24, 2004, of a heart attack in The Bronx),[2] was an American foil fencer.[3]
He was the only American men's foil fencer to reach the finals at the world championships until Gerek Meinhardt won the bronze medal in the 2010 World Fencing Championships.[4]
Contents
Fencing career
High School
Axelrod was Jewish,[5] the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who had fled the pogroms, grew up in the Bronx.[6] A heart murmur kept Axelrod from participating in most sports, so his mother encouraged him to learn fencing at Stuyvesant High School in New York.[4] After graduation in 1938, he studied with 1920 Olympic champion Giorgio Santelli and won amateur titles as a member of the Salle Santelli club.[7]
College
Axelrod served in the US navy in World War II, and then attended the City College of New York.[4] His college team reached the National Team Foil Championships in 1948, the same year he was U.S. Intercollegiate Fencing Association and NCAA Champion.[3]
US Championships and rankings
Axelrod was ranked # 1 in the United States in 1955, 1958, 1960, and 1970. He was in the top ten 22 times in the years 1942 to 1970. 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).[3]
World Championships
He was a member of the United States World Championship team four times. His best placing was fifth, in 1958.[3]
Olympics
Axelrod was on five U.S. Olympic Teams (1952–68).[7] He won the bronze medal in Individual Foil competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics.[3]
Pan American Games
He was also a member of four U.S. Pan American Games teams. He won three team gold medals, one team silver, and four individual silvers in Foil.[3]
Maccabiah Games
Axelrod, who was Jewish, won many gold and silver medals in his six appearances at the World Maccabiah Games.[3]
Approach to fencing
"I have no purely defensive moves", Axelrod told The New York Times 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.[4]
Editor
Axelrod was the Editor of "American Fencing" magazine (1986–90).[6]
Hall of Fame inductions
Axelrod was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1973.[8]
He was inducted into the USFA Hall of Fame in 1974.[9]
Miscellaneous
Axelrod worked as an electrical engineer for the Grumman Corporation.[4]
See also
References
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External links
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1921 births
- 2004 deaths
- American male 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
- City College of New York alumni
- College fencers in the United States
- Jewish American sportspeople
- Jewish fencers
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States
- Olympic fencers of the United States
- Olympic medalists 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
- American naval personnel of World War II
- Maccabiah Games gold medalists
- Maccabiah Games silver medalists
- Maccabiah Games fencers
