London 2012 Olympics: Kruse feeling his age as he loses out in fencing

The most highly-ranked foilist of the three Britons in the individual event, Kruse went down 15-5 to Artur Akhmatkhuzin of Russia.

Competing in his third Olympic Games, he admitted after his loss that his form had not been as good as four years ago.

“I’ve found it hard to hit form regularly and my timing wasn’t on today,” said Kruse, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Monday. “He was sharper on the day and that’s what makes the difference.

“My sharpness isn’t there at the moment and I’m not performing as well as I was able to in Beijing four years ago.

“I must be getting too old, I think.”

Born in London, Kruse is eligible for Scotland thanks to a grandparent, and has represented the Scottish team in international competition. He reached the quarter-finals in his first Olympics, in Athens eight years ago, but was knocked out a round earlier in Beijing in 2008.

Britain’s other two foilists also failed to get close to the medal positions. Husayn Rosowsky was beaten 15-8 by Mohamed Samandi of Tunisia in the first round, and James Davis went down 15-10 to Germany’s Peter Joppich in the second.

There is still a team competition in the foil, Britain’s strongest discipline at present, but on the form they showed yesterday they will have no hope of a medal.

The foil is the event in which Edinburgh fencer Keith Cook appealed against his non-selection, believing he had been overlooked in favour of competitors who would not be such strong contenders for medals.