'Gentlemen of Harvard' Ready for Men's Saber Team Event

PARIS, France — The so-called Gentlemen of Harvard — named because all four teammates either graduated from or have committed to fencing and studying at Harvard University — will fence together on on Wednesday at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

The setting is the breathtaking Grand Palais — already drawing raves as one of the most spectacular venues of the Olympics. The characters: Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.), Mitchell Saron (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Filip Dolegiewicz (Park Ridge, Ill.) — who all graduated from Harvard — plus Colin Heathcock (Beijing, China), who at 18 is the youngest fencer on this year’s U.S. Olympic team and will enter school at Harvard this fall.

It’s been a remarkable season for the U.S. Men’s Saber squad, which enters the Olympics fresh off a gold medal at the 2024 Zonal Championships in Lima, Peru. That comes after the Men’s Saber team medaled at every World Cup tournament of the 2023-24 FIE (International Fencing Federation) season:

• Madrid World Cup (May 2024): Gold
• Budapest World Cup (March 2024): Gold
• Padua World Cup (March 2024): Silver
• Tbilisi World Cup (February 2024): Bronze
• Alger World Cup (November 2023): Gold

On the strength of that season, the United States enters the eight-team tournament as the second seed, with a matchup against No. 7 Iran awaiting in the first round.

• Team USA has won two Olympic medals in this event: 

  • Silver, Beijing 2008: Tim Morehouse, Jason Rogers, Keeth Smart, James Williams

  • Bronze, London 1948: Dean Cetrulo, Normal Cohn-Armitage, Miguel de Capriles, James Flynn, Tibor Nyilas, George Worth

• The United States won a Men’s Saber Team medal at every FIE (International Fencing Federation) World Cup tournament in the 2023-24 season: Three gold, one silver, one bronze.

All bouts are streamed live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com (streaming schedule), with some rounds airing on USA Network. Bronze and gold medal bouts expected to air on the E! Network and stream live on Peacock.

Men’s Saber Team

Find the full bracket here, and broadcast/livestream info here.

• Quarterfinals: Team USA vs. Iran, 7:30 a.m. ET (1:30 p.m. Paris)
• 5-8 Classification Bouts: 9:00 a.m. ET (3:00 p.m. Paris)
• Semifinals: 9:50 a.m. ET (3:50 p.m. Paris)
• 5-6, 7-8 Classification Bouts: 10:40 a.m. ET (4:40 p.m. Paris)
• Bronze Medal Match: 1:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. Paris)
• Gold Medal Match: 2:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. Paris)