St. Louis Fencers Club

One for all the fencing dads out there today!

Indeed, better than dogs playing poker.

Much better than "Dogs playing poker"

A bit of history from Leon Paul.

Fencing in the 1924 Olympics ended with a real duel?

The story started in Paris in 1924 and involved an Italian-born, Hungarian coach by the name of Italo Santelli. Kovács, a Hungarian referee, made a controversial decision in a fencing match, siding with France over Italy. An Italian fencer, Aldo Boni, started an argument with the referee and refused to apologise when asked. Santelli was called in as a witness to Boni's outbreak, and the Italian team was forced to resign from the competition.

Once in Italy, Adolfo Cotronei, a journalist from Naples, accused Santelli of speaking out against Boni to remove him from the competition, fearing they would beat his adopted nation of Hungary, who went on to take the bronze at the Games. So, he was challenged to a duel by Santelli's son, Giorgio. Giorgio won the duel by delivering a blow to Cotronei's cheek two minutes in and the honour of the Santelli name was preserved.