Laurence Halsted

Laurence Halsted (born 22 May 1984) is a British foil fencer, silver medallist in the 2008 European Championships.

Not to be confused with Lawrence Halsted.
Laurence Halsted
Personal information
Born (1984-05-22) 22 May 1984
London, United Kingdom
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight81 kg (179 lb)
Sport
SportFencing
Weaponfoil
Handright-handed
FIE rankingcurrent ranking

Career

Halsted is the son of Nick Halsted, who fenced for Great Britain in the 1968 Summer Olympics, and Clare Henley-Halsted, who competed in foil in the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics.[1] He took up fencing himself at the Finchley Foil club and soon showed promise, winning the 2001 Junior European Championships in Keszthely. He helped Great Britain to conquer a bronze medal in the 2002 competition.

After he graduated in social psychology at the University of Sussex, he joined the Lansdowne Club in London. He made his breakthrough at the 2008 European Championships in Kiev: he saw off 2008 World silver medallist Andrea Baldini in the quarter-finals, then Ukraine's Andriy Pogrebnyak to reach the final. He lost to Italy's Andrea Cassarà and came away with a silver medal.[2] The following year he was stopped in the semifinals by fellow countryman Richard Kruse and took a bronze medal.[3] He finished the 2010–11 season no.16 in world rankings, a career best as of 2015.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed in the team foil event, where Great Britain team beat Egypt in the first round, but lost to Italy in the quarter-final.[4]

Now located in Denmark, Laurence Halsted has since 1 January 2017 been Performance Director for the Danish Fencing Federation.

His is known by his teammates as "The Kingslayer" due to his resemblance to HBO actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.[5]

References
  1. Matt Majendie (14 July 2011). "I told my dying dad I'd compete in 2012, it'll be emotional". The London Evening Standard.
  2. "Scherma, Andrea Cassarà campione d'Europa a Kiev" (in Italian). QuiBrescia.it. 7 July 2008.
  3. "Fencers 'on course' with Euro medals". BBC Sport. 20 July 2009.
  4. "London 2012: Great Britain narrowly lose in men's foil to Italy". BBC Sport. 5 August 2012.
  5. "Laurence Halsted". London2012.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  • Profile at the European Fencing Confederation
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