The spotlight shone brightly on Colin Heathcock, who clinched his first senior medal — a gold in Men's Saber. In Paris, our Men's Foil team also grabbed gold, boosting their ranking for the Paris Games.
In a weekend of fencing sure to boost the hopes of fans across the country, Team USA emerged with a pair of golds.
Young prodigy Colin Heathcock clinched a groundbreaking gold in Men's Saber at the Tunis Grand Prix, while our Men's Foil team captured an inspiring gold at the FIE Foil World Cup in Paris. These victories signal some strong momentum for American fencers on the road to the Paris Olympics.
Congratulations to all the athletes, coaches and support staff for their exceptional achievements this weekend, as they continue to elevate the prestige of USA Fencing on the global stage.
Tunis Grand Prix
At the Grand Prix in Tunis, Colin Heathcock, an 18-year-old sensation from the Christian Bauer Academy and Manhattan Fencing Center, secured his first senior gold — and his first senior medal of any color — in Men's Saber.
Heathcock, who won two junior gold medals at the 2023 Junior & Cadet Worlds, has put himself in a very strong position on the journey to the Paris Olympics.
His path to the podium included an impressive win over three-time Olympic champion Áron Szilágyi, a fencer who had earned his first Olympic gold when Heathcock was just 6.
Full Individual Results #
Women’s Saber
9th: Elizabeth Tartakovsky
14th: Maia Chamberlain
18th: Magda Skarbonkiewicz
43rd: Siobhan Sullivan
45th: Lola Possick
51st: Nora Burke
72nd: Vera Kong
73rd: Zoe Kim
84th: Vivian Lu
89th: Maggie Shealy
100th: Chloe Fox-Gitomer
108th: Tatiana Nazlymov
Men’s Saber
Gold: Colin Heathcock
17th: Eli Dershwitz OLY
30th: Andrew Doddo
38th: Filip Dolegiewicz
46th: Cody Walter Ji
48th: Khalil Thompson OLY
52nd: Daryl Homer OLY
56th: Lev Ben Avram
72nd: Grant Williams
77th: Antonio Heathcock
79th: Andrew Mackiewicz OLY
106th: Mitchell Saron
Paris World Cup
Meanwhile, the Men’s Foil team of Miles Chamley-Watson OLY, Chase Emmer, Nick Itkin OLY and Alexander Massialas OLY, delivered a spectacular performance in Paris.
They clinched team gold, solidifying their chances of fielding a full squad for the individual and team events at the Paris Games. The top four countries overall, plus the top country in each zone, qualify a full team: three individual fencers plus one "replacement" athlete who may be substituted into the team event.
Team USA's path to victory was highlighted by a nail-biting comeback against Italy in the semifinals. Down 41-44 in the semifinal, Massialas refused to quit, earning four touches in a row to help Team USA advance to the gold medal match against Japan.
Our Women’s Foil team, featuring Jackie Dubrovich OLY, Lee Kiefer OLY, Lauren Scruggs and Maia Weintraub, rebounded from a quarterfinal loss to Poland to win two matches in a row (China, Hungary), finishing 5th. Importantly on the road to Paris, the women had the best team finish of any country in our zone.
Full Individual Results #
Women’s Foil
5th: Lee Kiefer OLY
14th: Lauren Scruggs
18th: Jacqueline Dubrovich OLY
23rd: Maia Weintraub
28th: Katerina Lung
34th: Zander Rhodes
42nd: Sara Taffel
47th: Jaelyn Liu
68th: Stefani Deschner
131st: Arianna Cao
136th: Sabrina Massialas OLY
143rd: Sabrina Cho
Men’s Foil
5th: Alexander Massialas OLY
6th: Gerek Meinhardt OLY
13th: Miles Chamley-Watson OLY
17th: Nick Itkin OLY
36th: Chase Emmer
46th: Sidarth Kumbla
99th: Bryce Louie
102nd: Andrew Chen
104th: Samarth Kumbla
122nd: James Bourtis
124th: Marcello Olivares
125th: Ethan Gassner
