1979 Junior World Fencing Championships medal found buried in London

[SFfencer]

Notre Dame fencing medal found buried in London

http://www.southbendtribune.com/arti...911110308/1130

Notre Dame fencing medal found buried in London
How medallion got to London remains a mystery.
By MARGARET FOSMOE Tribune Staff Writer
Walter Waller is hoping to solve the mystery of how a junior fencing championship medal from the University of Notre Dame ended up buried in his London garden.

And he'd like to reunite the medal with its proper owner.

The medallion is a small square piece of metal bearing the words "1979 Junior World Fencing Championships," an image of the Golden Dome and the words "University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, U.S.A."

"It's in remarkably good condition," Waller said in a recent telephone interview.

Waller said he found the medal several years ago while he was digging in his front garden in Blackheath, an area in southeast London, England."I was digging about a foot and half deep, and there it (the medal) was in the dirt," he said.

The medal was encrusted with dirt and what appeared to be rust. He stored it away in a box, but recently came across it and decided to clean it up.

He used an old English cleaning remedy.

Waller soaked the medallion in HP Sauce, a popular brand of brown sauce made of malt vinegar blended with fruit and spices. The sauce is a well-known and often used condiment in Great Britain.

"I stuck it in the sauce for 24 hours. Most of the dirt came off it," he said.Waller said he's discussed the medal with a few friends in the local pub. They speculated that perhaps each athlete who competed in the 1979 Junior World Fencing Championships at the university received a medal for participating.

But how did it end up buried in his garden?

Waller, 64, and his wife have lived in their home for 14 years. Before that, an unmarried elderly woman lived there for many years, he said.

"I'd just like to find out more," he said. And he'd like to return the medal to its rightful owner.

"If it were mine, I'd want it back," he said. "It's a pretty thing."Can you solve the mystery of who the fencing medal belongs to and how it came to be buried in a British garden? If so, e-mail: mfosmoe@sbtinfo.com.

[misha]

There was Junior Worlds in South Bend in 1979
4 weapon/gender combinations, 12 medals total
Conveniently FIE has results on their website:

Men Epee:
1 KUTCHERIAVYI Igor RUS
2 LIS Adam POL
3 LATIYCHEV Viktor RUS

Men Foil:
1 BORELLA Andrea ITA
2 GEY Matthias GER
3 NUMA Mauro ITA

Men Saber:
1 BUJDOSO Imre HUN
2 ALCHAN Andrei RUS
3 KORIAJKINE Serguei RUS

Women Foil:
1 SPARACIARI Annarita ITA
2 VACCARONI Dorina ITA
3 SZOS Zsuzsa HUN


.

[Gav]

Your authors might have more luck if the UK fencing community was made aware. Never fear I've cross posted this to the UK board.

[Meteoric Iron]

Hmmm...golden dome...Notre Dame...garden...London... Zsuzsa Szos (say that in Hungarian ten times quickly)...it sounds like something from a DaVinci Code sequel. Keep us posted.

[counterattack]

There was Junior Worlds in South Bend in 1979
4 weapon/gender combinations, 12 medals total
Conveniently FIE has results on their website:

Men Epee:
1 KUTCHERIAVYI Igor RUS
2 LIS Adam POL
3 LATIYCHEV Viktor RUS

Men Foil:
1 BORELLA Andrea ITA
2 GEY Matthias GER
3 NUMA Mauro ITA

Men Saber:
1 BUJDOSO Imre HUN
2 ALCHAN Andrei RUS
3 KORIAJKINE Serguei RUS

Women Foil:
1 SPARACIARI Annarita ITA
2 VACCARONI Dorina ITA
3 SZOS Zsuzsa HUN


.

It seems like if they could tell if it was a gold, silver, or a bronze we could narrow the field enough to actually do a "where are they now?" hunt and figure out who might have left theirs in London. It is strange that there is no picture and no mention of what place it was.

-philip

[piste off]

Interesting...

Are there coaches medals or any other tokens given out to support/participants for these events? Are they sure it is a medal, and not something that just represented the event (small and square may not mean an FIE medal)?

R-

[Gav]

I've had 3 suggestions for fencers who have been potentially in the area since then.

[mfp]

A followup posted per a request from the journalist at the South Bend Tribune who wrote the original article on the mysterious wayward medal:

------
From Margaret Fosmoe:

Could you please post something for me on the Fencing.net site? (I apparently don't have privileges to post there.)

Here's an update I recently received from Bob Merry, secretary of the British Academy of Fencing and editor of the British Academy of Fencing News. Bob tells me his sources offer him this tip about the possible original owner of the fencing medal found in the garden in Blackheath:

I have one candidate: John Ford. We seem to have sent a full team of three fencers at each weapon - MF, WF, ME & MS - to South Bend in 1979. None won a medal and one member of the team I contacted cannot remember there being a participation medal, but it is possible that officials received medals in recognition of their work.

John Ford went out as a president and lived in Blackheath at the time. It may be his, but where he is now is anyone's guess.

If anyone knows how to reach John Ford, the '79 fencing president from Blackhealth, or any of his friends or relatives, please contact:

Margaret Fosmoe
Staff Writer
South Bend Tribune
South Bend, IN 46626 USA
mfosmoe@sbtinfo.com

[SFfencer]

Notre Dame fencing medallion mystery finally solved

http://www.southbendtribune.com/arti...s01/912120305/

Notre Dame fencing medallion mystery finally solved
By MARGARET FOSMOE
Tribune Staff Writer

The mystery of how a fencing competition medallion from the University of Notre Dame wound up in an English garden has been solved.

And the emblem soon will be reunited with its rightful owner.

Members of the international fencing community took a stab at playing Sherlock Holmes. And their Internet chatter proved the key to solving the mystery.

And "key" is the right word — because the medallion is not a championship medal, after all, but rather a commemorative key chain.

The facts of the case were reported in a Nov. 11 Tribune article.

Walter Waller found the medallion while digging in his front garden in Blackheath, an area in southeast London. He cleaned up the dirt-encrusted object and saw it was a small square piece of metal bearing the words "1979 Junior World Fencing Championships," an image of the Golden Dome and the words "University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, U.S.A."

Waller, who has lived in the house for 14 years and isn't a fencer, contacted The Tribune in an effort to find the medallion's owner.

After The Tribune story was published, it was picked up and retold on various international fencing blogs and Web sites. Tips and theories flowed in.

Blackheath Fencing Club President Steve Lennox recently heard the story and solved the mystery.

Ahmet Shaban, then a student at Catford School in London, fenced on a team that competed at the Junior Internationals held at Notre Dame in 1979, Lennox said via e-mail. Lennox was the Catford School fencing coach at the time.

Shaban did not win a medal in the competition at Notre Dame but did get a commemorative key ring, Lennox said.

Sometime afterward, Shaban's jacket was stolen in Blackheath, along with the key chain and keys, the coach said.

"I suspect that the thief threw (the keys) away and the key ring has now resurfaced," Lennox wrote.

Shaban, now an adult, is an occasional member of the Blackheath Fencing Club. Lennox saw him a few days ago, told him about the found object and confirmed that it fits the description of Shaban's long-missing key ring.

"Incidentally, Ahmet would quite like the key ring back as it was his only memento of his World Championship (competition)," according to Lennox.

Shaban could not be reached by The Tribune for comment.

Lennox has been in touch with Waller, the man who found the object in the garden. He plans to get the key ring from Waller and return it to Shaban in the near future.

Staff writer Margaret Fosmoe:
mfosmoe@sbtinfo.com

[occasionalfencer]

Notre Dame fencing medallion mystery finally solved

http://www.southbendtribune.com/arti...s01/912120305/

Thanks to all who contributed to this. I like mysteries with solutions.