Klaus Reichert
Klaus Reichert (born 1947 in Hanau, Hessen) is a retired German foil fencer who competed for West Germany at three Olympic Games and won Olympic team gold in 1976 and team silver in 1984. Between 1973 and 1987 he also collected six World Championship medals in the foil team event, including three golds, and he later worked as a dentist in Bonn.1
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 in Hanau, Hessen, then West Germany1 |
| Weapon and club | Foil; OFC Bonn, where he trained under Jean Coibion while studying dentistry1 |
| Olympic Games | 1972 München, 1976 Montréal, 1984 Los Angeles; he could not take part in 1980 in Moskva because of the boycott1 |
| Olympic medals | Team gold, Montréal 1976; team silver, Los Angeles 19841 |
| World titles | Foil team gold at the 1977, 1983, and 1987 World Championships, with two silvers and one bronze besides1 |
| National champion | West German individual foil champion 1975, 1980, and 19811 |
| Later profession | Dentist in Bonn1 |
Olympic career
Reichert's Olympic career stretched across twelve years and three editions of the Games. At München 1972 the West German foil team finished fifth, and in the individual event his exact placement is recorded differently by reference works: Olympedia describes him as having made the semi-finals, while the Great Olympians database and the Polish encyclopedia place his elimination in the quarterfinal round.1 • 2 • 3
Montréal 1976 produced his greatest result. Competing alongside Thomas Bach, Harald Hein, Matthias Behr, and Erk Sens-Gorius, he won the men's foil team gold; in the individual tournament he finished thirteenth.1 • 3
Reichert qualified for a fourth Games in 1980, but West Germany joined the boycott of the Moskva Olympics and he could not take part.1 His final Olympic appearance came at Los Angeles 1984, where the West German foil team of Harald Hein, Matthias Behr, Mathias Gey, Frank Beck, and Reichert took the silver medal behind the winners.1 • 3
World and European championships
Reichert's world-level record was built almost entirely in the team event. He reached his first major final at the 1971 World Championships, finishing fifth individually, and in 1973 at Göteborg he won his first world medal, team silver, together with Thomas Bach, Matthias Behr, Harald Hein, and Thomas Jäger.3
Over the following decade the team added two more world titles, at Wien in 1983 and Lausanne in 1987, a silver at Barcelona in 1985, and a bronze at Melbourne in 1979, giving Reichert six World Championship team medals in total, a 3–2–1 record.1 • 3 Individually, his best international result came late in his career: a silver medal in the individual foil at the 1983 European Championships in Lisbon.3
German career and club
Domestically he won the West German individual foil championship three times, in 1975, 1980, and 1981.1
Life after fencing
His competitive span, from the 1971 World Championship final to the 1987 world title, covered more than fifteen years at the top of international foil fencing.1
References
- Klaus Reichert, Olympedia athlete profile
- Great Olympians, biographies REI
- Klaus Reichert, Encyklopedia internetowa
Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026
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