Merten Mauritz

Austrian foil fencer Merten Mauritz took up the sport when he was 10-years-old, later representing Union Fechtclub in Wein. Mauritz was consistent at the national championships, finishing as the runner-up in both 1986 and 1992. The latter result earned him a place on the Austrian Olympic team for the 1992 Barcelona Games. At the Games, however, the team finished last in their pool and were eliminated. Two years earlier he married the German champion fencer Anja Fichtel, who won two gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but the couple later divorced.

Away from fencing Mauritz earned a diploma in advertising and sales, which saw him become the managing director of his own advertising agency in Wein. He was also involved in local activism, helping to preserve local recreation areas in the city. A major project that Mauritz worked on was an initiative to look at alternative solutions to a planned elevated railway route, with him helping residents to raise their concerns to officials.