Kriss, Grigori

Sport:
fencing

Country Represented:
Soviet Union

Years Competed:
1964, 1968, 1972

Medals Received:
gold, silver, bronze

Olympic Info:
One of the Soviet Union's greatest epee fencers in the 1960s and 1970s, Kriss competed in three Olympiads. At the 1964 Tokyo Games, at the age of 23, Kriss was a member of the Soviet Union's gold medal-winning epee team. In Tokyo, Kriss also competed in the individual epee event and reached the final round, but did not medal, finishing in fourth place overall.

At the 1968 Mexico City Games, he returned with the Soviet team in both the team and individual events. In the individual competition, Kriss advanced through the first two rounds to direct elimination matches and defeated Stefan Haulker of Romania, Bohdan Gonsier of Poland, and Pierre Allemand of France to advance to the final. In the final match, Kriss lost to Gyozo Kulcsar of Hungary and was awarded the silver medal. In the team competition, Kriss and the Soviet Union defeated Poland (13-2), the United States (10-5), and West Germany (9-3) to reach the final; in the final, they lost to Hungary 7-4 and Kriss won his second silver medal of the 1968 Games. One of his teammates was Yosef Vitebskiy.

Kriss' final Olympiad occurred in 1972 at Munich, where he won a bronze medal as a member of the Soviet epee team. Kriss later became a coach for the Ukranian Olympic fencing team which won four golds at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Career Highlights:
Kriss won the gold medal in the individual epee at the 1971 World Championships, and the silver medal at the 1967 World Championships. He also took the gold at the World Championships as a member of the Soviet Union's epee team in 1967 and 1969. He is a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Dec. 24, 1940

Origin:
Kiev, Ukraine

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