Michael Amberg

The 1960 Olympic fencer Michael Amberg was a three-times British champion and three-times Commonwealth Games entrant. He won the first of three consecutive British sabre titles in 1957, three years after appearing in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Vancouver when he won the individual sabre gold and team silver. Amberg won team gold and individual bronze at the Cardiff Games in 1958, and at Perth, Australia, in 1962, he collected another team gold medal. At the Roma Olympics he finished equal ninth in the team event and won just one of his five bouts in the individual competition.

Amberg served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) during World War II, and shortly after his demobilisation co-founded the Northampton Fencing Club with Jill Cave in January 1946. It is reputedly the oldest cub outside London. Amberg’s brother Philip was also an early member. Amberg, who attended Hurst Court School, Hastings, later worked for the Express Lift Company in Northampton and eventually became managing director and a vice-chairman.