Christian d’Oriola

Christian d’Oriola (born October 3, 1928, Perpignan, France—died October 29, 2007, Nîmes) was a French foil fencer who won four world titles and six Olympic medals between 1947 and 1956, cementing his stature as one of the great fencers in the history of the sport.

D’Oriola was born to a sporting family—a cousin won two Olympic gold medals in equestrian jumping—and began fencing when he was eight years old. In 1947 he won the world foil championship in Lisbon in his debut in international competition. He won three more world foil titles in 1949, 1953, and 1954.

D’Oriola enjoyed similar success in the Olympics, taking the silver medal in the individual foil competition at the 1948 Games in London and the gold in that same event at the 1952 Games in Helsinki and the 1956 Games in Melbourne. A brilliant technician with exceptional timing and awareness, d’Oriola joined Nedo Nadi as the only two-time gold medalists in the individual foil event. In the team foil competition d’Oriola led France to the gold medal in 1948 and 1952. At the Helsinki Games, he won all 10 matches in the team event, and in 1956 he beat all four members of the Italian squad, although France finished with the silver medal.

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D’Oriola’s last Olympic appearance was at the 1960 Games in Rome, where, although he failed to earn a medal, he was awarded the honor of carrying the French national flag in the opening ceremony. Still competing at the age of 42, d’Oriola won the French national title in the team épée event in 1970. After his retirement from competition, he served as a fencing judge and was vice president of the French Fencing Federation. In 1972 d’Oriola was awarded the French Legion of Honor. He was named Fencer of the 20th Century by the International Fencing Federation in 2001. A large sporting facility named in his honor, the Christian D’Oriola Complex, was inaugurated in 2010 at France’s National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (INSEP) in Paris.