USA Fencing Announces Full Roster for Olympic Games Paris 2024
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by Bryan Wendell
With less than three months until fencing competition begins at the Grand Palais in Paris, USA Fencing is thrilled to announce our full roster of 20 fencers for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — With the iconic Grand Palais set as the backdrop, USA Fencing is proud to unveil the roster of 20 fencers who will represent the United States at the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The exciting roster includes a remarkable mix of both seasoned Olympians and promising newcomers, all primed to compete on the world’s grandest stage.
Team USA is sending five fencing squads to the Olympics: Women’s Epee, Women’s Foil, Men’s Foil, Women’s Saber and Men’s Saber.
Each squad includes:
- Three athletes who compete in both the individual and team events.
- One “replacement athlete” who can be subbed in for the team event only. That substitution, once made, is permanent (meaning the subbed out fencer can’t come back in). The substitution can be made for any reason at the coach’s discretion.
How they Qualified
These athletes have clinched their spots on the Olympic team through strong performances at domestic and international tournaments throughout the qualification window, accumulating points based on their finishing positions.
The top three finishers compete in individual and team; the fourth-place finisher is the “replacement athlete.
Storylines to Watch
- Veterans and newcomers: The group includes 12 first-time and eight returning Olympians.
- NCAA student-athletes: All 20 Team USA fencers have NCAA fencing ties. Eighteen fenced at the NCAA level before graduating, while the other two are high school seniors committed to NCAA fencing programs this fall.
- The seasoned pros: Men’s Foil is our most experienced squad. Including Paris 2024, the group has a combined 14 Olympic Games between them: Meinhardt (5th Olympics) Massialas (4th), Chamley-Watson (3rd) and Itkin (2nd).
- The all-Harvard team: All four members of the Men’s Saber squad come from Harvard, including three graduates plus Colin Heathcock, who has committed to attend Harvard this fall.
- Ivy League representation: Thirteen fencers competed (or will compete) for Ivy League schools.
- Top NCAA schools: The most-represented schools are Harvard (six), Princeton (five) and Notre Dame (four)
What About the Paralympics?
Wheelchair fencing/parfafencing qualification continues through May 31, 2024, and we’ll announce our qualifiers at that time. (You can track how we’re doing here.)
NCAA Fencing Champions
Team USA’s squad for the Olympics includes these NCAA Fencing Individual Champions:
- Anne Cebula (2019, Columbia/Barnard)
- Maia Chamberlain (2018, Princeton)
- Eli Dershwitz (2017, 2018, Harvard)
- Filip Dolegiewicz (2022, Harvard)
- Margherita Guzzi Vincenti (2010, Penn State)
- Nick Itkin (2018, 2019, Notre Dame)
- Lee Kiefer (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, Notre Dame)
- Alexander Massialas (2013, 2015, Stanford)
- Gerek Meinhardt (2010, 2014, Notre Dame)
- Lauren Scruggs (2023, Harvard)
- Elizabeth Tartakovsky (2022, Harvard)
- Maia Weintraub (2022, Princeton)
Meet the Olympic Team
Athletes are listed in qualification order.
Women's Epee #
National coach: Natalie Dostert; National assistant coach Cedric Loiseau
| Athlete Name | Hometown | Club(s) | College | Events | Number of Games | Coach(es) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anne Cebula | Brooklyn, N.Y. | New York Athletic Club, New York Fencing Academy | Columbia | Individual & Team | 1st | Sergey Danilov |
| Hadley Husisian | Oakton, Va. | Fencers Club, Elite Fencing Academy & DC Fencers Club | Princeton | Individual & Team | 1st | Guillermo Madrigal |
| Margherita Guzzi Vincenti | Hartland, Wis. | Ataba Fencing Club | Penn State | Individual & Team | 1st | Abbas Fadel |
| Kat Holmes | Washington, D.C. | New York Athletic Club & DC Fencers Club | Princeton | Replacement athlete (team only) | 3rd (2016, 2020, 2024) | Zoltan Dudas |
Women's Foil #
National coach: Ralf Bissdorf
| Lexington, Ky. | Bluegrass Fencers’ Club | Notre Dame | Individual & Team | 4th (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024) | Amgad Khazbak | |
| Queens, N.Y. | Peter Westbrook Foundation, Fencers’ Club | Harvard | Individual & Team | 1st | Sean McClain | |
| Maplewood, N.J. | New Jersey Fencing Alliance | Columbia | Individual & Team | 2nd (2020, 2024) | Brian Kaneshige | |
| Philadelphia, Pa. | Fencers Club & Fencing Academy of Philadelphia | Princeton | Replacement athlete (team only) | 1st | Mark Masters |
Men's Foil #
National coach: Greg Massialas
| San Francisco, Calif. | Massialas Foundation (MTeam) | Stanford | Individual & Team | 4th (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024) | Greg Massialas | |
| Los Angeles, Calif. | LA International Fencing Center | Notre Dame | Individual & Team | 2nd (2020, 2024) | Michael Itkin | |
| Lexington, Ky. | Massialas Foundation (M Team), Bluegrass Fencers' Club | Notre Dame | Individual & Team | 5th (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024) | Greg Massialas, David Willette | |
| Los Angeles, Calif. | LA International Fencing Center | Penn State | Replacement athlete (team only) | 3rd (2012, 2016, 2024) | Michael Itkin |
Women's Saber #
National coach: Aleks Ochocki
| Livingston, N.J. | Manhattan Fencing Center | Harvard | Individual & Team | 1st | Yury Gelman | |
| Portland, Ore. | Oregon Fencing Alliance | Notre Dame (committed) | Individual & Team | 1st | Adam Skarbonkiewicz | |
| Bethesda, Md. | Nazlymov Fencing Foundation | Princeton | Individual & Team | 1st | Vitali Nazlymov | |
| Menlo Park, Calif. | Manhattan Fencing Center | Princeton | Replacement athlete (team only) | 1st | Yury Gelman |
Men's Saber #
National coach: Akhi Spencer-El
| Beijing, China | Christian Bauer Academy & Manhattan Fencing Center | Harvard (committed) | Individual & Team | 1st | Christian Bauer | |
| Sherborn, Mass. | Tim Morehouse Fencing Club | Harvard | Individual & Team | 3rd (2016, 2020, 2024) | Aleksander Ochocki | |
| Ridgewood, N.J. | Bergen Fencing Club, New York Athletic Club | Harvard | Individual & Team | 1st | Oleg Stetsiv | |
| Park Ridge, Ill. | Midwest Fencing Club & Tim Morehouse Fencing Club | Harvard | Replacement athlete (team only) | 1st | Bart Pukal |
Meet the Paralympic Team
National coach: Eric Soyka
| Ellen Geddes | Aiken, S.C. | Shepherd Swords | Women's Foil |
| Victoria Isaacson | Poughkeepsie, N.Y. | The Phoenix Center & Rogue Fencing Academy | Women's Foil |
| Byron Branch | Dayton, Ohio |
| Men's Foil |
| Noah Hanssen | Ellicott City, M.D. | UMD Club Fencing | Men's Saber |
| Jataya Taylor | Aurora, Colo. | Denver Fencing Center & Denver Fencing Foundation | Women's Foil and Women's Epee Team |
| Garrett Schoonover | Salt Lake City, Utah | Valkyrie Fencing Club & Salt City Swords | Men's foil and Men's Epee Team |
