George Worth

George V. Worth (born György Woittitz; April 1, 1915 – January 15, 2006) was a Hungarian-born American sabre Olympic medalist fencer.

For the English rugby union player, see George Worth (rugby union).
George Worth
Personal information
Birth nameGyörgy Woittitz[1]
Born(1915-04-01)April 1, 1915
Budapest, Hungary
DiedJanuary 15, 2006(2006-01-15) (aged 90)
Orangeburg, New York, United States
Height5-8 (173 cm)
Weight154 lb (70 kg)
Sport
Country United States
SportFencing
Event(s)sabre
ClubSalle Santelli
Medal record
Men's fencing
Representing  United States
Men's fencing
1948 London Sabre team
Pan American Games
1951 Buenos AiresIndividual sabre
1951 Buenos AiresTeam sabre
1955 Mexico CityTeam foil
1955 Mexico CityTeam sabre
1959 ChicagoTeam sabre

Early and personal life

Worth was born György Woittitz in Budapest, Hungary, and was Jewish.[2] Because of the political climate in Hungary in 1937, Worth sought to emigrate to the United States, but he was unable to do so directly because he was Jewish and spent two years in Cuba.[3][4]

Worth finally came to the United States, and changed his name to George Worth, and at the age of 22 he was living in Manhattan in New York City.[5][6][7][4] He became a US citizen.[4] Worth served for the US in World War II, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 and 1945, winning several Bronze Stars.[4]

He later served as Captain of the South Orangetown, New York Ambulance Corps and Chief Commissioner of the Orangeburg, New York Fire Department.[4]

Fencing career

Worth began fencing while he was a youth in Hungary, at Salle Santelli, the salle d’armes of Italo Santelli, a sabre coach and the father of Giorgio Santelli, who became a five-time US Olympic coach.[3][4] During his two years in Cuba, Worth won the Cuban national sabre championship and fenced often with Ramon Fonst, who had won the Olympic championship in both 1900 and 1904.[3][4]

US Championship

Worth won the US AFLA national sabre championship in 1954, and was a 5-time medalist.[8][9][10][11][3][4] He was a member of 14 national championship teams, representing Salle Santelli his entire career.[3][4]

Olympics

Worth competed at four Olympic Games for the US Olympic team—in 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1960.[3][4]

He won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London at 33 years of age in the team saber competition, and he reached the finals and placed fifth in the individual saber event.[3]

At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki at 37 years of age, he reached the quarterfinals in the solo event and advanced to the final in the team saber event, where they finished in fourth place.[3]

At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne at 41 years of age, he reached the semifinals in the sabre event. In the team event they had a bye into the semifinals, where they were defeated.

His final Olympics was the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome at 45 years of age, where he and his team placed fourth in the sabre competition.[7]

Pan American Games

Worth was also a member of three Pan-American teams on behalf of the US.[4] He won the individual silver medal in sabre and the team gold medal in sabre and foil at the 1951 Pan American Games in Argentina.[12][3][4] He repeated those results at the 1955 Pan American Games in Mexico.[3][4] At the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, he again won a team gold, and came in fifth in the individual competition.[3][4]

He took the Pan American Games Oath of Participation on behalf of all athletes of the United States during the opening ceremonies of the 1959 Games.[12][4]

After his fencing career concluded, he was a leading official in the sport.[3]

Hall of Fame

He was inducted into the USFA Hall of Fame in 1974.[10]

See also

References
  1. Cooke, Charles; Ross, Harold (February 12, 1938). "Talk of the Town: George Worth". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  2. Memoirs of an Ottoman Mamlouk of Egypt - M. A. Mamlouk
  3. "Worth, George V." – US Fencing Hall of Fame
  4. George Worth Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
  5. "George Worth" | The New Yorker
  6. The New Yorker
  7. "Worth, George". Jews in Sports. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  8. "Sports History: U. S. Fencing Champions". Archived from the original on December 10, 2006. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  9. The Encyclopedia of Sports: The Bible of Sports Condensed for Gillette - Frank G. Menke
  10. Fairfield Fencing
  11. Collier's ... Year Book Covering the Year ... (P.F. Collier & Son., 1952)
  12. "Santelli – 1950's". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
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