Ecaterina Stahl-Iencic
Romanian fencer (1946–2009)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ecaterina Stahl-Iencic (31 July 1946 – 26 November 2009) was a Romanian foil fencer, world champion in 1975. She competed at five Olympics from 1964 to 1980,[2] winning team bronze medals in 1968 and 1972.[4][5]
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Ecaterina Clara Stahl-Iencic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Kati[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 31 July 1946 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 November 2009 (aged 63) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 163 cm (5 ft 4 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 60 kg (132 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fencing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Fencing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weapon | Foil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hand | right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | CSA Steaua[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach | Alexandru Csipler Andrei Valce Zilaghi Iosif[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1984 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
She was born Katalin Jencsik. (Hungarian name order Jencsik Katalin) She belonged to the Hungarian minority in Transylvania.[5] she took up fencing when she was 14 at local club Unio Satu Mare under the coaching of(Hungarian Sándor Csipler) Alexandru Csipler.[6] There she became friends with Ileana Gyulai (Hungarian:Ilona Gyulai), with whom she would fence in the Romanian national team, and with József Szepessy, who would become team world champion with Germany in 1973.[1]
In 1964, at 18 years, Stahl won the Romanian national championship with Unio, and transferred to CSA Steaua in Bucharest.[6] The same year, she took part in her first Olympics in the team foil event. Romania was defeated by the Soviet Union in quarter-finals and finished 5th after prevailing over France. In 1965 she won the Junior World Championships in Rotterdam. She also earned a team silver medal with Romania at the senior 1965 World Fencing Championships. She earned her first major individual medal, a bronze, at the 1966 World Fencing Championships. She would earn two individual medals, including gold in 1975, and seven team medals at the World Championships throughout her career.[6]
In 1967, Stahl married István Stahl, a sports journalist at Hungarian-language magazine Friss Újság.[6] The couple had two daughters, Gabriela and Cristina, who became a foil fencer too. In 1968, Stahl took part in her second Olympics. This time, she earned a team bronze medal, along with Ana Pascu, Ileana Drîmba, Olga Szabo and Maria Vicol.[7] She took another bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics with the same teammates, Maria Vicol being replaced by Ileana Gyulai.[8]
After her retirement in 1984 Stahl became a fencing coach at CS Satu Mare, in her home town.[6] She trained amongst others Olympic silver medallist Rita König and her own daughter, Olympian Cristina.[3] She was named in 2006 honorary citizen of Satu Mare.[9] She died on 26 November 2009 of colon cancer.[1] Her name was given in 2015 to the Satu Mare Cup, a competition of the European women's foil circuit for cadets.[10]
