Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 9: Junior Men's Epee Team Claims First-Ever World Title; Women Extend Medal Streak to Five
Elijah Imrek's decisive 8-2 leg sparks stunning comeback in gold medal final against Israel; Wimmer seals it.
2026 Junior & Cadet Fencing World Championships
Apr 1, 2026 - Apr 9, 2026 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 6GOLD
- 3SILVER
- 4BRONZE
13Total Medals
Team USA2026 Junior & Cadet WorldsMedal Tracker
Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 8: Cafasso Earns Cadet Women's Epee Silver in Remarkable Day Marked by Resilience On and Off the Strip
Cambridge, Massachusetts, native defeats reigning Junior Women's Epee world champion en route to final.
Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 7: Wimmer Earns Historic Silver in Junior Men's Epee; Cafasso Reaches Top 8 in Women's Event
McLean, Virginia, native becomes just the second American ever to medal in Junior Men's Epee.
Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 6: Underdog Junior Men's Foil Team Claims World Title; Women Earn Bronze in Memorable Day for Team USA
Ninth-seeded Americans defeat four of the world's top eight programs — including top-ranked China.
2026 Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 5: Jaelyn Liu Makes History With Back-to-Back Cadet and Junior Foil Titles; Wang and Calise Also Medal
Liu becomes first fencer ever to win both Cadet and Junior gold at two different world championships.
2026 Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 4: Jaelyn Liu Wins Back-to-Back Junior Women's Foil World Titles
Plano native battles back from 10-8 deficit — with a cramping hand — to reach final, then dominates for gold.
2026 Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 3: Junior Men's Saber Team Claims Fourth Straight World Title
Morrill, Gonzalez, Choi and Kim deliver gold in Rio, extending Team USA's dynasty in the event.
2026 Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 2: Aiden Tse Wins Cadet World Gold in Men's Saber in Stunning Debut Performance
Aiden Tse wasn't expecting to medal at his first Junior & Cadet Worlds. He left with the title.
2026 Junior & Cadet Worlds, Day 1: Will Morrill Earns Junior World Silver in Men's Saber, Capping Epic Two-Week Run
Columbia sophomore Will Morrill beats NCAA champion in semis, continues remarkable streak at Junior/Cadet Worlds.
Junior Women's Saber
19th place: Charmaine Andres (Cali Fencing)
22nd place: Dora Zhang (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)
25th place: Brynnley McKee (Z1 Fencing, Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
34th place: Sophie Liu (Capital Fencing Academy, Yale University)
Junior Men’s Saber
Silver: Will Morrill (Scarsdale Fencing Center, Columbia University)
5th place: Emilio Gonzalez (Scarsdale Fencing Center, Fencers Club)
23rd place: Silas Choi (Globus Fencing Academy, Princeton University)
25th place: Shaun Kim (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
Cadet Women's Saber
11th place: Dora Zhang (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)
16th place: Delilah Huai (Premier Fencing Academy)
39th place: Martina Fernandez (Nellya Fencers)
Cadet Men’s Saber
Gold and Cadet World Champion: Aiden Tse (Premier Fencing Academy)
13th place: Semeon Ermakov (Fencing Academy of Denver, Nellya Fencers)
40th place: Devyn Anthony (Peter Westbrook Foundation, Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
Junior Women's Saber Team
8th place: Charmaine Andres (Cali Fencing), Dora Zhang (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona), Brynnley McKee (Z1 Fencing, Tim Morehouse Fencing Club), Sophie Liu (Capital Fencing Academy, Yale University)
Junior Men's Saber Team
Gold and 2026 Junior World Champions: Will Morrill (Scarsdale Fencing Center, Columbia University), Emilio Gonzalez (Scarsdale Fencing Center, Fencers Club), Silas Choi (Globus Fencing Academy, Princeton University), Shaun Kim (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
Junior Women's Foil
Gold and 2026 World Champion: Jaelyn Liu (Star Fencing Academy, Fencing Institute of Texas)
5th place: Ella Calise (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
6th place: Caterina Fedeli (Epic Fencing Club)
24th place: Katerina Lung (Moe Fencing Club, Columbia University)
Junior Men's Foil
12th place: Roy Graham (Jovanovic Fencing, Harvard University)
15th place: Peter Bruk (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
18th place: Castor Kao (Star Fencing Academy, Yale University)
33rd place: Luao Yang (Renaissance Fencing Club)
Cadet Women's Foil
Gold and 2026 World Champion: Jaelyn Liu (Star Fencing Academy, Fencing Institute of Texas)
Bronze: Ella Calise (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
9th place: Caterina Fedeli (Epic Fencing Club)
Cadet Men's Foil
Bronze: Aaron Wang (Bluegrass Fencers' Club)
40th place: Lucas Senic (Renaissance Fencing Club)
50th place: Bradley Li (Star Fencing Academy)
Junior Women's Foil Team
Bronze: Jaelyn Liu (Star Fencing Academy, Fencing Institute of Texas), Caterina Fedeli (Epic Fencing Club), Ella Calise (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club), Katerina Lung (Moe Fencing Club, Columbia University)
Junior Men's Foil Team
Gold and 2026 Junior World Champions: Peter Bruk (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Roy Graham (Jovanovic Fencing, Harvard University), Castor Kao (Star Fencing Academy, Yale University), Luao Yang (Renaissance Fencing Club)
Junior Women's Epee
8th place: Natalya Cafasso (Olympia Fencing Center)
11th place: Leehi Machulsky (Academy of Fencing Masters, Princeton University)
17th place: Regina Lee (Swords Fencing Studio)
77th place: Jolie Korfonta (DC Fencers Club, Savage Fencing Club)
Junior Men's Epee
Silver: Nathaniel Wimmer (Elite Fencing Academy)
14th place: Simon Lioznyansky (University of Pennsylvania, Alliance Fencing Academy)
34th place: James Sennewald (Alliance Fencing Academy, University of Notre Dame)
67th place: Elijah Imrek (Alliance Fencing Academy, University of Notre Dame)
Cadet Women's Epee
Silver: Natalya Cafasso (Olympia Fencing Center)
14th place: Scarlett Lee (New York Fencing Academy)
20th place: Regina Lee (Swords Fencing Studio)
Cadet Men's Epee
10th place: Andy Zheng (Guanyi Fencing Academy, Twin Cities Fencing Club)
26th place: Alan Lam (ASER International Fencing Academy)
37th place: Christopher Davoodian (Swords Fencing Studio)
Junior Women's Epee Team
Bronze: Natalya Cafasso (Olympia Fencing Center), Regina Lee (Swords Fencing Studio), Leehi Machulsky (Academy of Fencing Masters, Princeton University), Jolie Korfonta (DC Fencers Club, Savage Fencing Club)
Junior Men's Epee Team
Gold: Nathaniel Wimmer (Elite Fencing Academy), Elijah Imrek (Alliance Fencing Academy, University of Notre Dame), Simon Lioznyansky (University of Pennsylvania, Alliance Fencing Academy), James Sennewald (Alliance Fencing Academy, University of Notre Dame)
Welcome to Team USA’s fan hub for the 2026 Junior & Cadet Fencing World Championships, your go-to source for schedules, results, roster updates and everything you need to follow the action in Rio!
Fast Facts
- Dates: April 1–9, 2026
- Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Time Zone:
- Rio de Janeiro operates on Brasilia Time (BRT), which is UTC-3. During the competition dates in early April, the Eastern United States will be on Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC-4), meaning Rio is one hour ahead of the East Coast.
- If a match starts at 9 a.m. in Rio, that's 8 a.m. Eastern Time (New York) and 5 a.m. Pacific Time (Los Angeles) — the same morning, not the night before. This is a much more viewer-friendly time difference than past world championships held in Asia, so fans back home can follow the action in near real time!
- Number of Team USA Fencers:
- Junior (U20) Teams: 4 fencers per weapon
- Junior Women's Epee, Junior Women's Foil, Junior Women's Saber
- Junior Men's Epee, Junior Men's Foil, Junior Men's Saber
- Cadet (U17) Teams: 3 fencers per weapon
- Cadet Women's Epee, Cadet Women's Foil, Cadet Women's Saber
- Cadet Men's Epee, Cadet Men's Foil, Cadet Men's Saber
Junior Women's Epee
- Natalya Cafasso
- Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Club: Olympia Fencing Center
- Coach: Daniel Hondor
- Regina Lee
- Hometown: Pasadena, California
- Club: Swords Fencing Studio
- Coaches: Tigran Shaginian, Nana Demirchian, Jung Jin Sun, Misha Mazur, Trevor Shepherd
- Leehi Machulsky
- Hometown: San Jose, California
- Clubs: Academy of Fencing Masters, Princeton University
- Coach: Zoltan Dudas
- Jolie Korfonta
- Hometown: McLean, Virginia
- Clubs: DC Fencers Club, Savage Fencing Club
- Coaches: Byron Neslund, Janusz Smolenski, Robert Suchorski
Junior Men's Epee
- Nathaniel Wimmer
- Hometown: McLean, Virginia
- Club: Elite Fencing Academy
- Coach: Ayman Fayez
- Elijah Imrek
- Hometown: Missouri City, Texas
- Clubs: Alliance Fencing Academy, University of Notre Dame
- Coaches: Dorian Jimenez, Cedric Loiseau, Natalie Dostert, Andrey Geva
- Simon Val Lioznyansky
- Hometown: The Woodlands, Texas
- Clubs: University of Pennsylvania, Alliance Fencing Academy
- Coaches: Sasha Smerdin, Oleg Knysh, Dorian Jimenez, Natalie Dostert, Slava Danilov
- James Sennewald
- Hometown: Houston, Texas
- Clubs: Alliance Fencing Academy, University of Notre Dame
- Coaches: Dorian Jimenez, Cedric Loiseau
Cadet Women's Epee
- Natalya Cafasso
- Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Club: Olympia Fencing Center
- Coach: Daniel Hondor
- Regina Lee
- Hometown: Pasadena, California
- Club: Swords Fencing Studio
- Coaches: Tigran Shaginian, Nana Demirchian, Jung Jin Sun, Misha Mazur, Trevor Shepherd
- Scarlett Lee
- Hometown: Long Island, New York
- Club: New York Fencing Academy
- Coaches: Misha Mokretsov, Sergey Danilov, Yarik Ponomarenko, Camille Yettou, Anton Dutchak, Kyrylo Krasnianskyi
Cadet Men's Epee
- Christopher Davoodian
- Hometown: Glendale, California
- Club: Swords Fencing Studio
- Coaches: Tigran Shaginian, Nana Dermirchian, Misha Masur, Jin-Sun Jung, Trevor Shepard
- Andy Zheng
- Hometown: Rochester, Minnesota
- Clubs: Guanyi Fencing Academy, Twin Cities Fencing Club
- Coaches: Jie Gao, Scott Rostal
- Alan Lam
- Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia
- Club: ASER International Fencing Academy
- Coaches: Saeid Serajian, Mohammad Rezaei, William Chang
Junior Women's Foil
- Jaelyn Liu
- Hometown: Plano, Texas
- Clubs: Star Fencing Academy, Fencing Institute of Texas
- Coaches: Kai, Tamer, Shuang, Momo, Volodymyr
- Katerina Lung
- Hometown: Lexington, Massachusetts
- Clubs: Moe Fencing Club, Columbia University
- Coaches: Guido de Bartolomeo, Giorgia Galesso, Elif Sachs, Jason Sachs, Gidon Retzkin
- Caterina Fedeli
- Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
- Club: Epic Fencing Club
- Coach: Dmitri Romankov
- Ella Calise
- Hometown: Rye, New York
- Club: Tim Morehouse Fencing Club
- Coaches: Slava Grigoriev, Mohamed Essam
Junior Men's Foil
- Peter Bruk
- Hometown: Hoboken, New Jersey
- Clubs: Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Coaches: Stas Gutkovskiy, Stepan Simonov, Matt Jednak, Adam Kaszubowski, Sherif Elbakry, David Taylor, Liran Gross
- Luao Yang
- Hometown: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- Club: Renaissance Fencing Club
- Coaches: Anatolie Senic, Ann Marsh-Senic
- Roy Graham
- Hometown: Springfield, Virginia
- Clubs: Jovanovic Fencing, Harvard University
- Coach: Bojan Jovanovic
- Castor Kao
- Hometown: Needham, Massachusetts
- Clubs: Star Fencing Academy, Yale University
- Coaches: Kai Zhao, Shuang Meng, Tamer Tahoun, Mohamed Hassan, Anthony Zhang, Marat Isrealian, Slava Grigoriev
Cadet Women's Foil
- Jaelyn Liu
- Hometown: Plano, Texas
- Clubs: Star Fencing Academy, Fencing Institute of Texas
- Coaches: Kai, Tamer, Shuang, Momo, Volodymyr
- Caterina Fedeli
- Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
- Club: Epic Fencing Club
- Coach: Dmitri Romankov
- Ella Calise
- Hometown: Rye, New York
- Club: Tim Morehouse Fencing Club
- Coaches: Slava Grigoriev, Mohamed Essam
Cadet Men's Foil
- Lucas Senic
- Hometown: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- Club: Renaissance Fencing Club
- Coaches: Anatolie Senic, Ann Marsh-Senic, Yanina Iannuzzi, Anna Katkova, Felipe Meyberg
- Aaron Wang
- Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
- Club: Bluegrass Fencers' Club
- Coaches: Amgad Khazbak, Augusta Oliveira
- Bradley Li
- Hometown: Belmont, Massachusetts
- Club: Star Fencing Academy
- Coaches: Kai Zhao, Tamer Tahoun, Shuang Meng, Mohamed Hassan
Junior Women's Saber
- Sophie Liu
- Hometown: North Potomac, Maryland
- Clubs: Capital Fencing Academy, Yale University
- Coaches: Dariusz Gilman, Alexey Lihachevskiy, Marat Israelian
- Brynnley McKee
- Hometown: Darien, Connecticut
- Clubs: Z1 Fencing, Tim Morehouse Fencing Club
- Coach: Ziad Elsissy
- Dora Zhang
- Hometown: Diamond Bar, California
- Club: LA Fencing Academy of Pomona
- Coaches: Coach Wang, Coach Park, Coach Daniel
- Charmaine Andres
- Hometown: Palos Verdes, California
- Club: Cali Fencing
- Coaches: Peyman Fakhri, Wally Mendoza
Junior Men's Saber
- Will Morrill
- Hometown: New York, New York
- Clubs: Scarsdale Fencing Center, Columbia University
- Coach: Achiko Lortkipanidze
- Silas Choi
- Hometown: Dallas, Texas
- Clubs: Globus Fencing Academy, Princeton University
- Coaches: Aleks Ochocki, Paul Corteyn, Hyo Kun Lee, Nam Gil Woo, Jay Kim
- Emilio Gonzalez
- Hometown: New York, New York
- Clubs: Scarsdale Fencing Center, Fencers Club
- Coach: Archil Lortkipanidze
- Shaun Kim
- Hometown: Greenwich, Connecticut
- Club: Tim Morehouse Fencing Club
- Coach: Tim Morehouse
Cadet Women's Saber
- Dora Zhang
- Hometown: Diamond Bar, California
- Club: LA Fencing Academy of Pomona
- Coaches: Coach Wang, Coach Park, Coach Daniel
- Delilah Huai
- Hometown: Elk Grove, California
- Club: Premier Fencing Academy
- Coaches: Kristiyan Hristov, Tsvetelina Hristov, Niki Dinev, Maestro Hristov, David Timofeyev
- Martina Fernandez
- Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
- Club: Nellya Fencers
- Coach: Terrence Lasker
Cadet Men's Saber
- Devyn Anthony
- Hometown: Hoboken, New Jersey
- Clubs: Peter Westbrook Foundation, Tim Morehouse Fencing Club
- Coaches: Akhi Spencer-El, Daryl Homer, Khalil Thompson
- Semeon Ermakov
- Hometown: Highlands Ranch, Colorado
- Clubs: Fencing Academy of Denver, Nellya Fencers
- Coaches: Norbert Jaskot, Tom Strzalkowski, Arkady Burdan, Ilia Andreev
- Aiden Tse
- Hometown: San Francisco, California
- Club: Premier Fencing Academy
- Coaches: Kristiyan Hristov, Tsetsi Hristov, Niki Denev, Maestro Hristov, David Timofeyev
Competition Schedule
- Wednesday, April 1: Junior Women's Saber / Junior Men's Saber individual + Opening Ceremony — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
- Thursday, April 2: Cadet Women's Saber / Cadet Men's Saber individual — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
- Friday, April 3: Junior Women's Saber / Junior Men's Saber team — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
- Saturday, April 4: Junior Women's Foil / Junior Men's Foil individual — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
- Sunday, April 5: Cadet Women's Foil / Cadet Men's Foil individual — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
- Monday, April 6: Junior Women's Foil / Junior Men's Foil team — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
- Tuesday, April 7: Junior Women's Epee / Junior Men's Epee individual — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
- Wednesday, April 8: Cadet Women's Epee / Cadet Men's Epee individual — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
- Thursday, April 9: Junior Women's Epee / Junior Men's Epee team + Closing Ceremony — 9 a.m. BRT / 8 a.m. EDT
(Staff supporting Team USA in Rio)
- Misha Mokretsov and Sebastien Dos Santos – Women's Epee Coaches
- Ralf Bissdorf OLY-GER – Women's Foil Coach
- Dagmara Wozniak OLY – Women's Saber Coach
- Tommi Hurme – Men's Epee Coache
- Greg Massialas OLY – Men's Foil Coach
- Tim Morehouse OLY – Men's Saber Coach
- Kaitlyn Litten – Team Leader
- Iana Dakova – Chief of Mission
- Peggy Chin – Sports Med
- Tomy Ton – Sports Med
- Kathy Walters – Armorer
- Liz Morey – Armorer
- Bryan Wendell – Media/Communications
Last Time Out – 2025 Junior & Cadet Worlds (Wuxi, China)
Individual Events
- Gold: Emilio Gonzalez – Cadet Men's Saber
- Gold: Jaelyn Liu – Junior Women's Foil
- Gold: Jaelyn Liu – Cadet Women's Foil
- Gold: Luao Yang – Cadet Men's Foil
- Gold: Nathaniel Wimmer – Cadet Men's Epee
- Silver: Alexandra Lee – Junior Women's Saber
- Bronze: Magda Skarbonkiewicz OLY – Junior Women's Saber
- Bronze: Xuanyi Zhang – Cadet Women's Saber
- Bronze: Aiden Siu – Cadet Men's Foil
(Total: 9 individual medals – 5 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
Team Events
- Gold: Junior Women's Saber Team (Magda Skarbonkiewicz OLY, Alexandra Lee, Siobhan Sullivan, Sophie Liu)
- Gold: Junior Men's Saber Team (Colin Heathcock OLY, Will Morrill, Cody Walter Ji, Emilio Gonzalez)
- Gold: Junior Women's Foil Team (Jaelyn Liu, Victoria Pevzner, Katerina Lung, Chin-Yi Kong)
- Bronze: Junior Women's Epee Team (Leehi Machulsky, Sumin Lee, Yasmine Khamis, Sophia Jakel)
(Total: 4 team medals – 3 gold, 1 bronze)
Recent Host Cities
A look back at the last 10 editions of the Junior & Cadet Fencing World Championships:
- 2016 – Bourges, France
- 2017 – Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- 2018 – Verona, Italy
- 2019 – Toruń, Poland
- 2020 – (Canceled due to COVID-19)
- 2021 – Cairo, Egypt
- 2022 – Dubai, UAE
- 2023 – Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- 2024 – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 2025 – Wuxi, China
- 2026 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil