Anja Fichtel-Mauritz

Anja Fichtel

Anja Fichtel in 1995
Personal information
Born	(1968-08-17) 17 August 1968 (age 48) Tauberbischofsheim, Germany
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
Sport	Fencing
Club	FC Tauberbischofsheim
Medal record Representing  Germany Women's Fencing Olympic Games 1988 Seoul foil, ind, 1988 Seoul foil, team 1992 Barcelona foil, team 1996 Atlanta foil, team World Fencing Championships 1986 World Fencing Championships foil, ind, 1989 World Fencing Championships foil, team 1990 World Fencing Championships foil, ind, 1993 World Fencing Championships foil, team 1989 World Fencing Championships foil, ind,

Anja Fichtel-Mauritz (born 17 August 1968, née Fichtel) is a German fencer. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, she won in the individual and team competitions, and she won the individual competition of the World Championship in 1986 and 1990. She was winner of the World Championships in 1985, 1989, 1993 as a member of the national German team and second in team competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics. From 1986 until 1996 Fichtel held the title of German champion.

Anja Fichtel attended the Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim and fought for the Fencing-Club Tauberbischofsheim.

Fichtel is remembered not just for her many victories, but also for her uncompromised vigorous fencing style. As Elena Grishina, the noted Soviet fencer, recalls:

The appearance of Anja Fichtel in foil fencing has drastically changed our view on that type of weapon. Earlier the foil fencers would exchange technical tricks for a long while, using parries and counter-parries, attacks with multiple riposte and parat riposte, attacks with multiple binds and disengagements. Anja used to advance with three quick balestra, then stepped back, forcing her opponent to come closer, then she threw her arm above her head and vigorously attacked with a large lunge, making it almost half-size of the strip. She would aim the hit either at the shoulder or the back of competitor, and there was practically no chance to avoid it.

In 1990, she won the "Russian Cup," an international tournament in foil fencing for women held in Moscow, where the highest award was reserved for the foil fencer who did not lose a single bout. A year later, she again won the same cup.

Seven weeks before the Olympics in Barcelona, Anja gave birth to her son Lauren. She followed her husband Merten Mauritz to Austria and changed her name to Fichtel-Mauritz. She still represented Germany at the team Olympics and took second place behind the Italian team.