USA Fencing

MILAN, Italy — Ever since Men’s Saber became part of Senior Worlds in 1922, the United States had never had a Senior World Champion in the event.

Until now.

Eli Dershwitz OLY, the 27-year-old Harvard graduate from Sherborn, Mass., is the 2023 World Champion in Men’s Saber. His gold medal, which came on Day 4 of the 2023 Fencing World Championships in Italy, is made even more impressive by the path he took to get there — defeating the three men who entered the tournament ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the world.

“Honestly, it feels surreal,” Dershwitz says. “It doesn’t feel like it really happened. Hopefully, either tomorrow or the day after when someone asks me, I’ll have thought a little bit better on how to phrase my thoughts. But for now, I’m just thankful for everyone that helped me get here.”

In the semifinal, Dershwitz faced perhaps his toughest test of the day, fencing against future FIE Hall of Famer Aron Szilagyi of Hungary. Szilagyi is the reigning world champion and three-time Olympic champion (gold in 2012, 2016 and 2020). What’s more, Dershwitz was down 10-4 to Szilagyi before battling back to win, 15-13.

Dershwitz says he could feel the love from across the ocean as friends, loved ones and Team USA fans everywhere reach out to show their support.

“Honestly, my phone’s been blowing up all day from friends, family, girlfriend, teammates, everyone that’s been with me on the journey over these years,” he says. “It means the world. And the ‘USA’ chants in the stands? We might have a small group here, but they were loud. Especially when I was down in the semis, they really helped me dig down a little deeper to be a little bit faster, a little bit stronger.”

To get gold, Dershwitz — who entered the competition ranked 14th in the world and is now ranked No. 2 — powered through a gauntlet of the world’s best fencers:

• Finals: World No. 1 and reigning European champion Sandro Bazadze of Georgia
• Semifinals: World No. 2, three-time Olympic champion and reigning World Champion Aron Szilagyi of Hungary
• Quarterfinals: 2019 Team World Champion Hansol Ha of Korea
• Round of 16: World No. 3 and three-time Olympic medalist Luigi Samele of Italy
• Round of 32: Two-time team Olympic gold medalist (2012, 2020) Bongil Gu of Korea

Dershwitz now joins Miles Chamley-Watson OLY, who won the Men’s Foil world championship in 2013, as the only U.S. men with Senior World titles in the history of fencing.

Dershwitz represents Tim Morehouse Fencing Club and is coached by Aleks “Olek” Ochocki, Jarek Koniusz and Zoran Tulum — all of whom can share in today’s win.

After receiving his gold medal and hearing the national anthem, Dershwitz also thanked the Italian Fencing Federation for putting on such a wonderful event. The stands were overflowing with fencing fans, including the president of Italy.

“This was electric,” he says. “The stadium was beautiful. The stands were filled, the Italian Federation did a beautiful job filling up the stands. Everything was beautiful.”

This is Dershwitz’s second medal at the Senior World Championships. He won a silver in 2018 in Wuxi, China, falling to the finals to Korea’s Kim Jung-hwan. He also won three individual medals at Junior Worlds, including a Junior World Championship in 2015, becoming the first American man to accomplish that feat.

Up next: Wednesday brings the table of 64 through the finals in both Women’s Foil and Men’s Epee. Team USA has five fencers represented across the two events.

Men’s Saber

Eli Dershwitz OLY: Gold Medal and World Championship

• Round of 64: Defeated Mohammad Fotouhi (Iran), 15-12
• Round of 32: Defeated Bongil Gu (Korea), 15-14
• Round of 16: Defeated Luigi Samele (Italy), 15-6
• Quarterfinals: Defeated Hansol Ha (Korea), 15-10
• Semifinals: Defeated Aron Szilagyi (Hungary), 15-13
• Finals: Defeated Sandro Bazadze (Georgia), 15-6

Colin Heathcock: 24th place

• Round of 64: Defeated Olivier Desrosiers (Canada), 15-8
• Round of 32: Lost to Michele Gallo (Italy), 15-12

Andrew Doddo: 50th place

• Round of 64: Lost to Kento Hoshino (Japan), 15-13

Mitchell Saron: 16th place

• Round of 64: Defeated Sebastien Patrice (France), 15-11
• Round of 32: Defeated Enver Yildirim (Turkey), 15-7
• Round of 16: Lost to Sandro Bazadze (Georgia), 15-7

Women’s Epee

Kat Holmes OLY: 72nd place

Isis Washington: 39th place

• Round of 64: Lost to Miho Yoshimura (Japan), 15-12

Kasia Nixon: 34th place

• Round of 64: Lost to Irina Embrich (Estonia), 15-7

Anne Cebula: 15th place

• Round of 64: Defeated Sofiya Nikolaichuk (Kazakhstan), 15-8
• Round of 32: Defeated Mingye Zhu (China), 15-12
• Round of 16: Lost to Anna Kun (Hungary), 15-7

Find more than 150 photos from today here.