Ilmari Vartia

Ilmari Vartia competed in the 1948 Olympics in both the individual and team épée events. In 1951 he was on the Finnish team at the World Championships. During a bout against Danish fencer Mogens Lüchow, Lüchow’s blade went through Vartia’s fencing jacket and armpit, causing massive bleeding and a mortal wound. As a result of Vartia’s death, the rules of fencing were changed to require that fencers wear a plastron, a half-jacket worn underneath the regular fencing jacket, for added safety.