James Davis (fencer)

James-Andrew Davis (born 3 July 1991) is a British fencer, European champion in 2014.[1] He competed in men's foil at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[2]

James-Andrew Davis
Personal information
Born (1991-07-03) 3 July 1991
Edgware, London
ResidenceBarnet, Hertfordshire
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight100 kg (220 lb; 15 st 10 lb)
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportFencing
Weaponfoil
Handleft-handed
National coachZiemowit Wojciechowski
ClubZFW
FIE rankingcurrent ranking

Career

Davis was born and brought up in Barnet, North London. He became interested in fencing at the age of four, while waiting for his mother to pick up his brother for his own sport at a Saturday club and fenced at clubs including RLS Fencing[3] and Finchley Foils. In 2008 he became the first Briton to climb a podium at European Cadet Championships with a bronze medal in Rovigo.[4] He claimed another bronze medal, this time with the team, at the 2010 Junior European Championships in Lobnya.

Beginning preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics on home ground, in London, Davis was ordered by his coach to lose weight or be dropped from Team GB. Davis shed more than 5 stone (32 kg) in 18 months and his fencing improved accordingly: he climbed from No.346 at the end of the 2009–10 season to No.29 on the eve of the Olympics[5] and was allocated one of Great Britain's quota places as hosts.[6] Davis received a bye in the round of 64, but lost 15–10 to five-time World champion Peter Joppich of Germany.[7] In the team event Great Britain knocked off Egypt in the first round, but were defeated 45–40 by Italy, who eventually won the competition, and finished 6th after the placement rounds.[8]

In the 2012–13 season Davis became in Saint-Petersburg the first Briton since 2009 to win a Grand Prix.[9] This result, and three quarter-finals in other World Cup events, pushed him into the world Top 16. At the European Championships in Zagreb he made his way to the semi-finals, where he lost 15–18 to Russia's Aleksey Cheremisinov, and came away with a bronze medal.[10] In the team event, Britain overcame France in the quarter-finals, but fell 45–42 against Poland. They defeated Russia 45–33 to earn Davis a second bronze medal.[11] He finished the season No.7 in world rankings.

At the beginning of the 2013–14 season Davis went to San Francisco to train at the Massialas Foundation with USA national coach Greg Massialas. He achieved two quarter-finals in World Cup events. At the European Championships in Strasbourg he had a close win against young Alexander Choupenitch of the Czech Republic, then overpowered 15–8 Peter Joppich and met Aleksey Cheremisinov in the final. Davis was led 10–6 when the referee interrupted the bout: with temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F), his sweat-drenched jacket was registering false positives. Davis was able to refocus after changing his kit and won Britain's first European foil gold.[1] Cheremisinov took his revenge in the team event, where Russia disposed of Britain in the quarter-finals. At the World Championships in Kazan reached the quarter-finals, where he was defeated 15–6 by France's Enzo Lefort. In the team event, Britain were largely overpowered by Italy in the quarter-finals and finished 8th. Davis ended up world No.6, his best ranking so far.

Davis studies psychology at Middlesex University.[4] He is also a fencing coach for Ziemowit Wojciechowski's fencing club [12]

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References
  1. Nick Hope (9 June 2014). "James Davis wins historic European fencing gold for Britain". BBC Sport.
  2. "James-Andrew Davis". www.london2012.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  3. "RLS Fencing Alumni James Davis". http://rlsfc.co.uk/news/gallery/. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  4. "James Davis". Team GB.
  5. Lucy Kinder and Jacquelin Magnay (30 July 2012). "London 2012 Olympics: A trim James Davis is thinking big after finding his cutting edge in the fencing arena". The Telegraph.
  6. Ollie Williams (12 June 2012). "London 2012: Fencing selectors defend team as squad completed". BBC Sport.
  7. "Fencing woe for Great Britain as Kruse heads casualties at the ExCel". The Daily Mail. 31 July 2012.
  8. "Olympics fencing: Italy beat Japan to win men's team foil". BBC Sport. 5 August 2012.
  9. "James Davis wins Britain's first Grand Prix since 2009". BBC Sport. 6 March 2013.
  10. "Fencer Davis claims bronze at European Championships". BBC Sport. 19 June 2013.
  11. "Fencing - Great Britain pick up men's foil team bronze at European Championships". Yahoo UK. 21 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014.
  12. "James Davis". 15 January 2015.
  • Profile at the European Fencing Confederation
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