Krieger, Byron

He received the Detroit Sports Guild Outstanding Athlete Award in 1951 and was elected to the Michigan Amateur Sports Hall of Fame in 1974. Wayne State University Hall of Fame 1976, Michigan Jewish Hall of Fame 1986

Krieger, a resident of Southfield, is a Detroit native who graduated from Northwestern HS and went on to become WSU's first of 29 fencing All-Americans. He won the NCAA foil championship in 1942 and was 62-7 in dual meets at WSU including 30-0 in foil. Krieger was selected for the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games (the latter at the age of 36). Krieger was sixth in the 1951 Pan-American Games foil and sabre competition as the USA teams won both events and placed second in the epee while he fenced 110 bouts. The 1956 USA Team was fourth in foil in the Olympics and he won the 1957 Maccabbean Games sabre title. Krieger won 55 State and Midwest titles in all three fencing weapons including all three weapons (Michigan State titles) in the same year five times.

Fencer Byron Krieger to Be Inducted in Sports Hall of Fame
Detriot News, 1974

Byron Krieger, Michgan's top fencer for many years will become the first in his sport to be elected to the Michigan Amateur Sports Hall of Fame when he is inducted Wednesday with 23 other sports figures from 14 different amateur sports.

Krieger's career started in his Northwestern High School days when he became the youngest fencer to win the state championships. He was Wayne State University's first national fencing champion in 1942, and a member of the 1951 U.S. Pan-American team in Buenos Aires.

He also was on the United States Olympic foil team in 1952 at Helsinki, Finland, and the 1956 team at Melbourne, Australia.

In 1957 Krieger won the saber gold medal and the silver medal in foil in the Maccabbia Games for world Jewish athletes at Ramat Gan, Israel.

During his career he has amassed 55 state and Midwest championships in foil, epee and saber, including a three-weapon sweep of the state championships in five different years. He was officially rated as one of the nation's top 10 fencers for 15 years during his career.

Wednesday's ceremonies at the Warren Chateau, mark the third annual banquet for the Michigan Amateur Sports Hall of Fame.

2-time Olympians Judy Goodrich and Byron Krieger, both Michigan legends, on the cover of Detroit News Magazine in 1956

JudyGoodrich&BYRONKRIEGER1956.jpg

Below: Ohio State fencing team captain Ivan Gilbert (left) against Byron Krieger in 1940 with Ralph Goldstein officiating.

Krieger, Byron

Men's Foil Olympians

Men's Foil World Champions

US National Men's Foil Champions