Tokyo Olympics: U.S. fencing team has a point to prove

Gerek Meinhardt scores a point in foil.

Three Taiwanese Americans and a Filipino American are members of the United States Olympic Fencing Team. All of them will represent the U.S. in foil.

The U.S. fencing team had one of its best Olympic showings in Rio five years ago. Team USA brought home four medals, including bronze in men’s foil and women’s saber and individual medals in men’s foil and men’s saber.

With 18 competitors nnd six replacements, the U.S. sending its largest fencing team to Tokyo. Four of the AAPI members are expected to win medals.

Following are the four AAPI fencers:

Gerek Meinhardt, Men's Foil

Taiwanese American Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif. / Massialas Foundation / Notre Dame) was one of five athletes who earned his qualification spot for Tokyo prior to the yearlong shutdown of competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The youngest male fencer to represent Team USA in history, Meinhardt was just 18 years old when he competed at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. He went on to compete at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, earning bronze in the team event in Rio. The only U.S. man to win two individual medals at the Senior World Championships (bronze in 2010 and 2015), Meinhardt also was a member of the team that won its first-ever Senior World Championship gold in 2019 as well as the squads that earned three silvers in 2013, 2017 and 2018. Meinhardt qualified for his fourth Olympic Team in 2020 after winning his second international medal of the season with gold at the Torino Grand Prix. In the first tournament after the COVID-19 shutdown, Meinhardt won gold at the Doha Grand Prix in March and is now ranked No. 2 in the world. Meinhardt will fence in Tokyo with his wife, foil fencer Lee Kiefer (See below). Both Meinhardt and Kiefer also are students at the University of Kentucky Medical School where Kiefer is in her third year and Meinhardt his first.

Alexander Massialas, Men's Foil

The reigning individual silver medalist from the 2016 Olympic Games, Taiwanese American Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif. / Massialas Foundation / Stanford) secured his position on his third straight Olympic Team with a silver medal finish at the Torino Grand Prix in 2020, followed by a bronze medal win in Cairo. Now ranked No. 5 in the world, Massialas won individual silver at the 2015 Senior World Championships and holds four Senior World medals in the team events, including gold in 2019. Three members of the Massialas family will be represented on Team USA with three-time Olympian Greg Massialas serving as the men’s foil team coach and Alexander’s sister, Sabrina Massialas (See below), who will travel as the replacement athlete for the women’s foil team.

Lee Kiefer, Women's Foil

After winning bronze at the 2011 Senior World Championships as a 17-year-old, Filipino American Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky. / Bluegrass Fencers’ Club / Notre Dame) has gone on to become one of the most successful women’s foil fencers in history, winning 20 individual medals on the World Cup circuit and leading Team USA to three podium finishes at the Senior World Championships, including the squad’s first-ever gold in 2018. Ranked No. 5 in the world, Kiefer is in her third year of medical school at the University of Kentucky and is eyeing the ability to add both “doctor” and “Olympic medalist” to her long resume.

Sabrina Massialas, Women's Foil

The younger sister of Alexander, Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif. / Massialas Foundation / Notre Dame) followed in her brother’s footsteps with a successful junior career that included individual gold at the 2016 Junior World Championships and winning the 2014 Youth Olympic Games title. A 2017 Senior World Team member, Sabrina Massialas battled injuries throughout her career, but earned a position as the replacement athlete for the women’s foil team after a top-32 result in Doha.

The U.S. Olympic fencing roster will be the largest in history should all 24 athletes compete in Tokyo.

Women’s Sabre
Mariel Zagunis, Eliza Stone, Dagmara Wozniak, Francesca Russo

Men’s Sabre
Eli Dershwitz, Daryl Homer, Andrew Mackiewicz, Khalil Thompson

Women’s Foil
Lee Kiefer, Jackie Dubrovich, Nicole Ross, Sabrina Massialas

Men’s Foil
Gerek Meinhardt, Alexander Massialas, Nick Itkin, Race Imboden

Women’s Foil
Lee Kiefer, Jackie Dubrovich, Nicole Ross, Sabrina Massialas

Men’s Foil
Gerek Meinhardt, Alexander Massialas, Nick Itkin, Race Imboden

Women’s Epee
Courtney Hurley, Kelley Hurley, Katharine Holmes, Anna van Brummen

Men’s Epee
Jake Hoyle, Curtis McDowald, Yeisser Ramirez, Alen Hadzic