{{Short description|German fencer (born 1968)}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Anja Fichtel | birth_name = | fullname = | nickname = | nationality = | residence = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|8|17|df=yes}} | birth_place = Tauberbischofsheim, West Germany | death_date = | death_place = | height = {{convert|1.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | weight = {{convert|62|kg|lb|abbr=on}} | website = | country = | sport = Fencing | event = | collegeteam = | club = FC Tauberbischofsheim | team = | turnedpro = | coach = | retired = | coaching = | worlds = | regionals = | nationals = | olympics = | paralympics = | highestranking = | pb = |image = AnjaFichtel.jpg |caption = Anja Fichtel in 1995 | medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{GER}}}} {{MedalSport | Women's Fencing}} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalGold |1988 Seoul|foil, ind,}} {{MedalGold | 1988 Seoul|foil, team}} {{MedalSilver | 1992 Barcelona|foil, team}} {{MedalBronze | 1996 Atlanta|foil, team}} {{MedalSport|World Fencing Championships}} {{MedalGold | 1986 World Fencing Championships|foil, ind,}} {{MedalGold | 1989 World Fencing Championships|foil, team}} {{MedalGold | 1990 World Fencing Championships|foil, ind,}} {{MedalGold | 1993 World Fencing Championships|foil, team}} {{MedalSilver | 1989 World Fencing Championships|foil, ind,}} | show-medals = yes }}
'''Anja Fichtel-Mauritz''' (born 17 August 1968, née '''Fichtel''') is a retired German foil fencer. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, she won in the individual and team competitions,<ref name="databaseolympics">{{cite web|url=http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=FICHTANJ01 |title=Olympics Statistics: Anja Fichtel-Mauritz |access-date=2011-07-30 |work=databaseolympics.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816060454/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=FICHTANJ01 |archive-date=2011-08-16 }}</ref><ref name="sports-reference">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fi/anja-fichtel-mauritz-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417223301/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fi/anja-fichtel-mauritz-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-17 |title=Anja Fichtel-Mauritz Olympic Results |access-date=2011-07-30 |work=sports-reference.com}}</ref> and she won the individual competition of the World Championship in 1986 and 1990. She was winner of the World Championships in 1985, 1989, 1993 as a member of the national German team and second in team competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics. From 1986 until 1996 Fichtel held the title of German champion.
==Biography== Anja Fichtel attended the Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim<ref name="Chronik_S.49">''75 Jahre Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim'', StieberDruck GmbH, 113 Seiten, TBB 1997, S.49</ref> and fought for the Fencing-Club Tauberbischofsheim.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}
Fichtel is remembered not just for her many victories, but also for her vigorous fencing style. As Elena Grishina, the Soviet fencer, recalls: {{Blockquote|The appearance of Anja Fichtel in foil fencing has drastically changed our view on that type of weapon. Earlier the foil fencers would exchange technical tricks for a long while, using parries and counter-parries, attacks with multiple riposte and parat riposte, attacks with multiple binds and disengagements. Anja used to advance with three quick balestra, then stepped back, forcing her opponent to come closer, then she threw her arm above her head and vigorously attacked with a large lunge, making it almost half-size of the strip. She would aim the hit either at the shoulder or the back of competitor, and there was practically no chance to avoid it.}}{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}
In 1990, she won the "Russian Cup," an international tournament in foil fencing for women held in Moscow, where the highest award was reserved for the foil fencer who did not lose a single bout. A year later, she again won the same cup.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}
Seven weeks before the Olympics in Barcelona, Anja gave birth to her son Lauren. She followed her husband Merten Mauritz to Austria and changed her name to Fichtel-Mauritz. She still represented Germany at the team Olympics and took second place behind the Italian team.<ref name="sports-reference"/>
The Russians met Fichtel in Moscow in 1993. At the “Russian Cup”, she lost to Diana Bianchedi and took second place. In March 1997, she announced her retirement, and in October of the same year she gave birth to her second baby, and in 2007 her third child was born. Her elder son Lauren has also taken up fencing.<ref name="sports-reference"/>
== Palmarès == :Image:Med 1.png 1985 Junior World Fencing Championships, foil, individual and team :Image:Med 1.png 1986 World Fencing Championships, foil, individual :Image:Med 1.png 1988 Junior World Fencing Championships, foil, individual :Image:Med 1.png 1988 Olympic Games, foil, individual and team :Image:Med 2.png 1989 World Fencing Championships, foil, individual :Image:Med 1.png 1989 World Fencing Championships, foil, team :Image:Med 1.png 1990 World Fencing Championships, foil, individual :Image:Med 2.png 1992 Olympic Games, foil, team :Image:Med 1.png 1993 World Fencing Championships, foil, team
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Anja Fichtel}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20091011073506/http://fencing-future.com/ "For Future of Fencing" International Charity Fund website] (original source of this article<!--"original source" is another word for blatant copy violation... -->) * [http://www.fie.ch/download/en%20bref/fr/Palmares-fra.pdf Palmarès] of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime
{{Footer Olympic Champions Fencing Women Individual Foil}} {{Footer Olympic Champions Fencing Women Team Foil}} {{World Champions in Women's Foil}} {{Footer Women's Foil World Cup Champions}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fichtel, Anja}} Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:People from Tauberbischofsheim Category:Fencers from Stuttgart (region) Category:German female fencers Category:Olympic fencers for West Germany Category:Olympic fencers for Germany Category:Olympic gold medalists for West Germany Category:Olympic silver medalists for Germany Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Germany Category:Fencers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic medalists in fencing Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:20th-century German sportswomen Category:World Fencing Championships medalists