Lucien Alphonse Paul Gaudin (27 September 1886 – 23 September 1934) was a French fencer.[1] He competed in foil and in épée events at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics and won a gold or silver medal in every event he entered, accumulating four gold and two silver medals total.[2] This record is tied for the best French Olympics performance, matching fencers Christian d'Oriola (four gold and two silver) then followed by both Philippe Cattiau and Roger Ducret (three gold, four silver and one bronze).

Lucien Gaudin
Lucien Gaudin in 1912
Personal information
Born27 September 1886
Arras, France
Died23 September 1934 (aged 47)
Paris, France
Sport
SportFencing
Medal record
Representing  France
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1924 Paris Team foil
Gold medal – first place 1924 Paris Team épée
Gold medal – first place 1928 Amsterdam Individual foil
Gold medal – first place 1928 Amsterdam Individual épée
Silver medal – second place 1920 Antwerp Team foil
Silver medal – second place 1928 Amsterdam Team foil

Gaudin also won two international champion's titles in épée (1905 and 1918), the European title in épée (1921, first edition) and nine consecutive French titles in foil (1906–1914).

Some sources claim that Gaudin was on the silver-medal sabre team in 1920, crediting him with an Olympic medal in each weapon.[3][4] However, the IOC medalist database does not award Gaudin a medal in that event,[5] the full results of the event show that he did not fence,[6] and numerous lists of competitors do not include him on the team.[7]

After retiring from competitions Gaudin became a journalist and co-owner of the company Les Films Sportifs, which produced the 1924 Olympic film. Gaudin committed suicide in 1934 when his company went bankrupt.[2]

Lucien Gaudin Cocktail

There is a cocktail named after Lucien Gaudin. It has the bitterness of Campari with gin, a nod to the Negroni, but with dry vermouth rather than sweet vermouth. Then there is the addition of Cointreau. And unlike the Negroni, the Lucien Gaudin at 2:1 gin to Campari is more gin dominant.[8]

  • 2 ounces gin
  • 1 ounce dry vermouth
  • 1 ounce Campari
  • 1 ounce Cointreau

A sibling to the Lucien Gaudin is the Gloria, also gin and dry vermouth with Campari and Cointreau.[9]

  • 2 ounces gin
  • 2 ounce dry vermouth
  • ½ ounce Campari
  • ½ ounce Cointreau

With equal amounts of gin and dry vermouth, the vermouth in the Gloria becomes the dominant counterpoint to the gin. With the Lucien Gaudin you notice the Campari and Cointreau influence much more, so more of a Negroni riff. The Gloria, with the dry vermouth more dominant is more of a Martini riff.

References edit

  1. ^ "Lucien Gaudin". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Lucien Gaudin". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Escrimeurs de légende" (in French).
  4. ^ Lucien Gaudin : le maître des armes. ISBN 978-2844210197.
  5. ^ "IOC medal database".
  6. ^ Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). p. Vol. 2, pp. 37–43. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  7. ^ DatabaseOlympics Archived 23 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, De Wael, Sports-Reference.
  8. ^ "An Easy (Yet Sophisticated) Cocktail: The Lucien Gaudin". Kitchn. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Gloria". Cointreau International. Retrieved 3 April 2022.