Sabre, Individual, Men

The Etropolski twins from Bulgaria, who had won gold and bronze at the 1983 World Championships were victims of the Communist boycott in 1984, as were strong medal contenders from the USSR, Hungary and Poland. In 1980 Jean-François Lamour was the only French fencer to fail to win a medal. Four years later in Los Angeles the by then seven-time French national champion made amends by clinching the Olympic title in spectacular fashion. Never previously better than fifth in a global championship, Lamour achieved the rare feat of winning every single bout on his way to the gold medal. The Frenchman was barely challenged until the final but had to dig deep to clinch the title with a sudden death hit over Marco Marin of Italy. There was also a rare medal for the USA when Peter Westbrook won the bronze medal match Lamour defended his title in Seoul and then won a further medal, a bronze, at the 1992 Olympics before leaving the sport for a career in politics. He served as France’s Minister for Sport between 2002 and 2007.