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Tech Fencers Win Medals

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Tech Fencers Win Medals Fencer and His Team Rise Above a Lot By GEORGE VECSEY for The New York Times | August 17, 2008 Beijing Keeth Smart is flying to New York on Monday to begin his new life at Columbia Business School. He is carrying an Olympic silver medal for fencing. Four years ago, he went home from Athens with a broken heart. Smart wilted in two crucial events in the 2004 Summer Games, essentially costing himself and his teammates a medal. He could barely get out of bed the next day, and he has carried around the memory of that collapse Omar Torres/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images for four years. But on Sunday, he staged two Keeth Smart, overcoming his fade in Athens and the death gallant comebacks, helping win a silver medal of his mother in May, helped the U.S. men’s sabre team in the team sabre competition for himself and win silver. the United States. He did it despite the death of his mother, Audrey Elizabeth Smart, on May 25, and despite being hospitalized for several months because of a serious blood disorder he picked up in Africa. With the collapse of 2004 very much in his memory bank, he capped the greatest Olympics for American fencing. In addition to winning the silver medal Sunday in men’s sabre, ending with a 45-37 loss to France, the United States won five other medals here. The women, among them Smart’s sister, Erinn, won a silver medal in foil, and they also won a bronze in sabre. And in the individual sabre competition, Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson and Becca Ward swept the medals. “This is the greatest performance in American fencing, and I am proud to be part of it,” Keeth Smart said. He was more than part of it. He has been the personification of American fencing, even through the bad times in Athens. With the score tied at 44-44, Smart accidentally cut the hand of his French opponent, Damien Touya, who flailed before suddenly reviving and securing the 45th and final touch. Smart also could not nail down the 45th point in the bronze-medal competition against Russia. “He looked on himself as a failure,” said Jeff Bukantz, the noncompeting team captain in Athens and Beijing. “Today, he slayed the dragon.” In the first round of team competition Sunday, Smart went last, with the Americans trailing Hungary, 40- 36. He then outpointed Zsolt Nemcsik, 9-4, to allow the United States to advance. In the semifinals, the Russians held a 40-35 lead, but Smart outpointed Stanislav Pozdnyakov, another experienced fencer, 10- 4, to give the United States a 45-44 victory. “Keeth Smart is our hero,” said James Williams, another American fencer. “He had those two losses in Athens, and he was so brave today.” Smart, who turned 30 on July 29, is a graduate of St. John’s University. He grew up in Brooklyn and was attracted to fencing when his father, Thomas, read that Peter Westbrook, a 1984 bronze medalist, was running a program for city children. Erinn Smart, now 28 and a graduate of Barnard College, followed her brother into the sport, as New York became a magnet for young fencers. The women have made more of a mark than the men. In 2004, Zagunis won the gold medal in women’s sabre, and Jacobson won a bronze. But Keeth Smart has been the leader of this generation. “People don’t realize how much he brought to fencing,” said Tim Morehouse, another New York fencer who was part of the silver-winning team Sunday. “This is a coming-out party for U.S. fencing. We never did anything before.” The success of the fencers stems from their personal desire and from the support of their families and their coaches, many of whom come from Europe. The national federation has been in chaos in recent years, with little financing or stability, but the United States Olympic Committee may force better leadership at the top. The program will have to go on without Smart, who is to start classes at Columbia in a few days. “I’m going to be finished fencing today,” he said. “This is the best ending. I’ve always dreamed of an Olympic medal.” In the sweet pageant of the medal ceremony, Smart took a deep breath as the medal was placed around his neck. “Not for myself,” he said, “but for all American fencers. We’re not professionals. We put our lives on hold.” He is a reserved man, but he shared some of his thoughts about feeling the silver medal resting on his chest. “This has been one of the hardest years of my life,” he said. “I lost a parent and I was in the hospital a couple of months. It’s exhilarating, like a roller coaster. I’ll probably take a deep breath when I get home and it all hits me.” Morehouse, who was part of the 2004 team, said: “When we left Athens, we were crying tears of sorrow. Now we are crying tears of joy.” The other fencers joked that they would not let Smart retire, but he insisted he was done. He was going home with a silver medal. It was a better way to leave than four years ago. Brooklyn-born fencer Erinn Smart helps Team USA to silver medal By FILIP BONDY for The Daily News | Saturday, August 16th 2008 2:07 PM EDT BEIJING - Erinn Smart was handed a 14-point lead, and then suddenly it was down to one lousy touch of a sword. She nearly blew the semifinal round of women’s team foil all by herself, and had an impatient Brooklyn-like reaction to her own choke job. “I would have had my teammates kill me,” she said. It wasn’t necessary. The New York fencer looked into the crowd, spotted her brother Keeth, and calmed herself through him. She ROSE/GETTY Brooklyn's Erinn Smart (l.), shown here being congratulated held on against favored Hungary, 35-33, a by teammates after defeating Sylwia Gruchala of Poland in victory that clinched the Americans a silver the women's team foil quarterfinal. medal and the Smart family its first Olympic podium. The U.S. team lost the final to the Russians, 28-11, but Smart was able to console herself in knowing that her coach, Michael Pederson, had stuck with her in the lineup. And then she had a strong showing in her first matchup with Evgenia Lamonova, outscoring her 2-1 during the three-minute span. “I knew I was capable of fencing well,” she said. “I knew I could carry through. It had ROSE/GETTY Team USA's Smart (from l.), Hanna Thompson and Emily Cross been nerves more than anything.” celebrate their silver medal win Saturday. Smart , born in Brooklyn, is a product of the Peter Westbrook Foundation in Harlem, where she began fencing at age 12. “My father told me it might be interesting to try,” she said. Smart kept fencing, and attended Barnard College at Columbia. Keeth Smart also became a world class fencer and missed a medal at the last Olympics by just one point. “Last time around, we know how close Keeth was,” she said. “We wanted this medal.” The final wasn’t pretty for the Americans, who stood at 4-4 in the match before losing 16 of the next 17 points. “There’s a momentum that builds up, and you have to find a moment to change that momentum,” Pederson said. “The Russians didn’t give us a chance. But a medal is something else.” .
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