Bill Hoskyns

Who was Bill Hoskyns?

Henry William Furse "Bill" Hoskyns MBE was a British fencer who appeared at six Olympic Games, winning two silver medals in 1960 and 1964. No British fencer has won an Olympic medal since. He was born in London. He competed with all three weapons but he was especially effective at Épée, where he was 1958 World Champion. He is one of only five fencers to compete at at least six Olympic Games.

He was eight times British champion, winning at least once at each weapon - a feat no one, including his great rival, Allan Jay, ever matched. During the time that fencing was a sport at the Commonwealth Games, Hoskyns won nine gold and one silver medal. Individually, he won gold in both épée and sabre in 1958, gold in épée and silver in foil 1966, gold in Épée in 1970.

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, he was part of the British silver-medal winning épée team. At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Hoskyns won silver in the épée, losing to Soviet fencer Grigory Kriss in the final.