Beautiful winner's medal issued to Ecaterina Stahl-Iencic for a fencing event (Team Foil) at the Munich 1972 Summer Olympics. Bronze, 66 mm, 132 gm (without chain) or 184 gm (with chain), by Gerhard Marcks; manufactured by the Bavarian Mint. The front is inscribed, “XX. Olympiade Munchen 1972,” and depicts the 'Seated Victory' with the Colosseum in the background; the reverse portrays the mythological twins Castor and Pollux, the patrons of competitive sport and friendship, with the artist's monogram below. The edge is engraved with the winner's event, "Fencing—Women's Team," and name, “Stahl Ecaterina.” Complete with its original plastic presentation case.
This was the first winner's medal since 1928 to feature a new design on the reverse, replacing the traditional depiction of a victorious athlete carried by a jubilant crowd, and the first medal to bear a chain instead of a ribbon, which was deemed to be too easily soiled or wrinkled. Ecaterina Stahl-Iencic (1946-2009) was a Romanian foil fencer and world champion in 1975. She competed at five Olympics between 1964 and 1980, and won team bronze medals in 1968 and 1972, falling short against powerhouse teams from the Soviet Union and Hungary. In 1972, her Romanian team was one of 11 nations competing in the women’s Team Foil event held on September 7 and 8, at Munich’s Messegelände. Only our second bronze medal from the 1972 Summer Games.
