Ute KIRCHEIS-WESSEL

Ute Kircheis-Wessel, sister-in-law of her teammate Fritz Wessel, was a member of the West German foil team at the 1976 Montréal Olympics that finished an unfortunate fourth, losing the bronze medal bout against Hungary. Individually she was eliminated in the second-round pool. At the 1984 Los Angeles Games Kircheis-Wessel won a gold medal with the foil team, for which she was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award.

Kircheis-Wessel won three more silver medals with West German foil teams at the World Championships in 1977, 1981, and 1983. She also added a bronze in 1979. In 1974, she won her only West German title in the individual foil. She later became a graduate sports teacher and worked in a gymnasium in Sankt Augustin, near Bonn.