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Olympic Fencer Erinn Smart '01 Makes History with Silver Medal in Women's Team Foil
Updated 08.22.08
In an outstanding performance at the 2008 Summer Olympics, fencer Erinn Smart '01 and her teammates, Hanna Thompson and fellow New Yorker Emily Cross, captured the silver medal in the women's team foil competition on August 16. The win was unexpected: Team USA started the day ranked seventh out of eight and advanced only by upsetting Poland, the world champion, in the quarterfinals. The semifinal against Hungary came down to the final bout of the last rotation, which was Smart's. Smart came in with a 14-point lead, but incredulously saw it dwindle. In a last-ditch effort that her brother, fellow Olympic fencer Keeth Smart, likened to "shooting a three-pointer from half court," Smart overcame her opponent and helped her team win the first medal in foil—either in team or individual competition—for the United States since the event's Olympic premiere in 1960. Top-seeded Russia won the gold, while Italy captured the bronze.
A five-time national champion in women's foil, this was Smart's third Olympic appearance; she competed in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and served as an alternate in Sydney in 2000. George Kolombatovich, Smart’s coach while at Barnard, was overjoyed at the news of her success in Beijing. “It was just a wonderful, wonderful surprise, and so well-deserved for someone who has worked so hard for all of these years,” he said. “And Erinn is a really exceptional person, a lady in the truest sense of the word. She’s a wonder. I am thrilled for her.”
The U.S. Fencing Team will bring home a total of six medals from Beijing. In addition to the silver in foil, the women also claimed bronze in the team sabre, and swept the individual sabre competition. On the men's side, Smart's brother Keeth Smart led his team to silver in the sabre.
To read more about the success of the Smarts and their teammates, visit the links below:
New York Times
New York Daily News
New York Sun
NBC Olympic Coverage
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