Team USA Sweeps All Six Individual Golds at Zonals for the First Time Since 2011

In Team USA’s final tuneup before the Olympic Games Paris 2024, our fencers looked sharp. 

With less than a month until fencing begins at the Olympics, most of the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team traveled to Lima, Peru, for the 2024 Pan-American Senior Championships. And the result was pure gold, with Team USA claiming all six individual gold medals for the first time since 2011. 

Thirteen years ago, fencing on home soil in Reno, Nevada,  Team USA swept all six individual golds at Zonals.  The winners that year were Race Imboden OLY, Men's Foil; Soren Thompson OLY, Men's Epee; Daryl Homer OLY, Men’s Saber; Lee Kiefer OLY, Women’s Foil; Kelly Hurley OLY, Women’s Epee; and Mariel Zagunis OLY, Women’s Saber.

This time around, Pan-American Senior Championship gold medals were won by Margherita Guzzi Vincenti, Women’s Epee; Nick Itkin OLY, Men’s Foil; Samuel Imrek, Men’s Epee; Elizabeth Tartakovsky, Women’s Saber; Eli Dershwitz OLY, Men’s Saber; Lee Kiefer OLY, Women’s Foil.

Team USA finished the multi-day competition with 19 total medals: 10 gold, five silver, and four bronze — surpassing even their incredible 16-medal haul  from 2023 in Lima.

The first day of the tournament kicked off with Team USA claiming six individual medals. Itkin claimed the gold medal while Gerek Meinhardt OLY took silver and Alexander Massialas OLY claimed bronze. 

It was an all-Team USA final that day in Women’s Epee, too, when Margherita Guzzi Vincenti defeated Hadley Husisian. Teammate Anne Cebula took bronze.

On day two of the competition, Samuel Imrek’s gold medal brought Men’s Epee its first gold in the event since 2011. Women’s Saber also took the podium after yet another all-Team USA final. Elizabeth Tartakovsky took gold, Maia Chamberlain claimed silver, and Tatiana Nazlymov earned bronze.  

The final day of individual competition featured two more golds, a silver, and a bronze from Women’s Foil and Men’s Saber. Kiefer topped the podium after defeating Eleanor Harvey of Canada. Jackie Dubrovich OLY claimed individual bronze. In the Men’s Saber competition, Eli Dershwitz ensured an individual gold sweep with a win over teammate Mitchell Saron who took silver.

With individual competition complete, action moved to the team competitions. Team USA immediately claimed gold by way of the Men’s Foil team of Massialas, Itkin, Meinhardt, and Miles Chamley-Watson OLY. The Women’s Epee team of Kat Holmes OLY, Guzzi Vincenti, Husisian, and Cebula claimed silver. Both teams helped increase the Team USA medal total to 16 medals.

On the competition’s penultimate day, the Women’s Saber team of Chamberlain, Tartakovsky, Nazlymov, and Magda Skarbonkiewicz climbed to the top of the podium to claim gold after defeating Canada, 45-36. 

And the final chapter was written by Women’s Foil and Men’s Saber, who both claimed gold medals. Both squads faced Canada where the Men’s Saber team of Eli Dershwitz OLY, Mitchell Saron, Filip Dolegiewicz, and Lev BenAvram won 45-26. The Women’s Foil team of Jackie Dubrovich OLY, Lee Kiefer OLY, Lauren Sruggs, and Maia Weintraub took down Team Canada 45-21.

Gold: Margherita Guzzi Vincenti (Ataba Fencing Club)
Silver Hadley Husisian (Fencers Club Inc.)
Bronze: Anne Cebula (New York Athletic Club)
Bronze: Montserrat Viveros (PAR)
.....
13th: Kat Holmes OLY (New York Athletic Club, DC Fencers Club)

Gold: Nick Itkin OLY (LAIFC)
Silver: Gerek Meinhardt OLY (Massialas Foundation (M Team))
Bronze: Alexander Massialas OLY (Massialas Foundation (M Team))
Bronze: Guilherme Toldo (BRA)
5th: Miles Chamley-Watson (LAIFC)

Gold: Samuel Imrek (Alliance Fencing Academy)
Silver:  Kruz Schembri (ISV)
Bronze: Fynn Fafard (CAN)
Bronze: Jesus Limardo (VEN)
....
6th: Oleg Knysh (Alliance Fencing Academy)
...
12th: Tristan Szapary (Fencers Club, Princeton University)
...
17th: Jonas Hansen (LEO Fencing Club, Harvard University)

Gold: Elizabeth Tartakovsky (Manhattan Fencing Center)
Silver: Maia Chamberlain (Manhattan Fencing Center)
Bronze: Tatiana Nazlymov (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)
Bronze: Pamela Brind'Amour (CAN)
...
6th: Magda Skarbonkiewicz (Oregon Fencing Alliance

Gold: Eli Dershwitz (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
Silver: Mitchell Saron (New York Athletic Club)
Bronze: Fares Arfa (CAN)
Bronze: Olivier Desrosiers (CAN)
5T: Shaul Gordon (CAN)
5T: Filip Dolegiewicz (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
...
9th: Lev BenAvram (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)
 

Gold: Lee Kiefer OLY (Bluegrass Fencers' Club)
Silver: Eleanor Harvey (CAN)
Bronze: Jackie Dubrovich OLY (New Jersey Fencing Alliance
Bronze: Jessica Zi Jia Guo (CAN)
5th: Maia Weintraub (Fencers Club Inc.)
6th: Lauren Scruggs (Peter Westbrook Foundation)

Gold: Canada
Silver: USA
Bronze: Argentina

Gold: USA
Silver: Brazil
Bronze: Canada

Gold: USA
Silver: Canada
Bronze: Argentina

Gold: Venezuela
Silver: Colombia
Bronze: Brazil
4th: Canada
5th: USA

Gold: USA
Silver: Canada
Bronze: Brazil

Gold: USA
Silver: Canada
Bronze: Mexico