USA Fencing

PARIS, France — A Men’s Foil squad with a combined 11 Olympic Games among them is joined by a talented Women’s Saber squad with three Olympics newcomers and an average age of 20.

Those dynamic storylines form the backdrop of the exciting final day of individual competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. After Monday, the focus shifts to team events — one weapon per day over the next six days.

In Men’s Foil, Team USA will roll out a stacked lineup of multi-time medalists at the Olympic and World Championship level. Alexander Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) is the last American to medal in the Men’s Foil individual event, earning silver at Rio 2016. Nick Itkin (Los Angeles, Calif.) is ranked No. 2 in the world and arrives in Paris on a high, having won a silver medal at the 2023 World Championships and gold at the 2024 D.C. Foil Grand Prix in March. And Gerek Meinhardt (Lexington, Ky.) enters his fifth Olympic Games showing no signs of slowing down after winning a silver medal at the Shanghai Grand Prix in May — the final FIE (International Fencing Federation) tournament before the Games.

Meanwhile, even though the Team USA Women’s Saber squad lacks Olympics experience, there’s no shortage of talent or impressive credentials in the group. Elizabeth Tartakovsky (Livingston, N.J.) won individual gold last month at the 2024 Pan American Championships and secured an individual NCAA championship for Harvard in 2022. Magda Skarbonkiewicz (Portland, Ore.) won gold at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, and is a two-time Junior World Champion (2022 and 2023). And Tatiana Nazlymov (Bethesda, Md.) ended her impressive 2023-24 season with a bronze medal at the 2024 Pan American Championships.

All six Team USA fencers will take center stage at the sold-out Grand Palais, where 8,000 fencing fans from around the world will gather in one of the most stunning venues at the Games. The glass-roofed building opened in 1900 for the Paris Universal Exhibition, using the most advanced construction available techniques at the time.

As we covered in our tournament format explainer, the individual competition begins with an incomplete tableau of 64. All six Team USA fencers have byes past that first Round of 64 and into the Round of 32. 

Fans tuning in to watch Team USA will want to begin their day at 4:25 a.m. ET (10:25 a.m. Paris time) to see the Women’s Saber Round of 32. That’s followed immediately by the Men’s Foil Round of 32 at 6:35 a.m. ET (12:05 p.m. Paris time).

After that, competition continues uninterrupted with Women’s Saber and Men’s Foil alternating rounds through the quarterfinals. Then there’s a two-hour break so the morning/afternoon session ticket holders can leave and make way for the evening session attendees.

The evening session begins at 1 p.m. ET (7 p.m. Paris) with the semifinals, bronze medal bouts and gold medal bouts, followed immediately by the victory ceremonies for each weapon.

All bouts are streamed live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com (streaming schedule), with bronze and gold medal bouts also airing on E!.

Women’s Saber

Find the full bracket here and your viewing options here. All bouts stream live on Peacock, with medal round bouts on E!

• Round of 32:

  • Elizabeth Tartakovsky vs. Nada Hafez (EGY), 4:25 a.m. ET (10:25 a.m. Paris), Red Strip

  • Magda Skarbonkiewicz vs. Nisanur Erbil (TUR), 4:50 a.m. ET (10:50 a.m. Paris), Blue Strip

  • Tatiana Nazlymov vs. Sebin Choi (KOR), 5:15 a.m. ET (11:15 a.m. Paris), Red Strip

• Table of 16: 8:05 a.m. ET (2:05 p.m. Paris)

• Quarterfinals: 9:55 a.m. ET (3:55 p.m. Paris)

• Semifinal 1: 1 p.m. ET (7 p.m. Paris)

• Semifinal 2: 1:25 p.m. ET (7:25 p.m. Paris)

• Bronze Medal Bout: 2:50 p.m. ET (8:50 p.m. Paris)

• Gold Medal Bout: 3:45 p.m. ET (9:45 p.m. Paris)

Men’s Foil

Find the full bracket here and your viewing options here. All bouts stream live on Peacock, with medal round bouts on E!

• Round of 32:

  • Gerek Meinhardt vs. Haiwei Chen (CHN), 6:35 a.m. ET (12:35 p.m. Paris), Yellow Strip

  • Alexander Massialas vs. Jeremy Fafa Keryhuel (CIV), 7:35 a.m. ET (1:35 p.m. Paris), Blue Strip

  • Nick Itkin vs. winner of Alex Tofalides (CYP)/Adrian Wojtkowiak (POL), 7:35 a.m. ET (1:35 p.m. Paris), Red Strip

• Table of 16: 8:55 a.m. ET (2:55 p.m. Paris)

• Quarterfinals: 10:20 a.m. ET (4:20 p.m. Paris)

• Semifinal 1: 1:50 p.m. ET (7:50 p.m. Paris)

• Semifinal 2: 2:20 p.m. ET (8:20 p.m. Paris)

• Bronze Medal Bout: 3:15 p.m. ET (9:15 p.m. Paris)

• Gold Medal Bout: 4:10 p.m. ET (10:10 p.m. Paris)

• Alexander Massialas: Three-time Olympic medalist (2020 — Team bronze, 2016 — Team bronze, 2016 — Individual silver) won bronze at the 2024 Pan American Championships after ending 2023 with back-to-back World Cup gold medals (November 2023 in Istanbul and December 2023 in Tokoname).

• Nick Itkin: After silver medal at the 2023 Fencing World Championships in Milan, continued his ascent with his first Grand Prix gold medal — coming on home soil at the Washington D.C. Grand Prix in March.

• Gerek Meinhardt: Five-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medalist (2020 — Team bronze, 2016 — Team bronze) won silver at the final FIE tournament of the 2023-24 season.

• Elizabeth Tartakovsky: Continued her string of success with an individual gold last month at the 2024 Pan American Championships to add to her two World Cup bronze medals and 2022 individual NCAA title with Harvard.

• Magda Skarbonkiewicz: Youngest woman on the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team won gold at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, and is a two-time Junior World Champion (2022 and 2023).

• Tatiana Nazlymov: Second-youngest fencer in the women’s individual saber event (after Skarbonkiewicz) ended her impressive 2023-24 season with a bronze at the Pan American Championships in Peru.

Alexander Massialas, Nick Itkin and Gerek Meinhardt have been to a combined 11 Olympics.

Alexander Massialas, Men’s Foil: Fourth Olympics

• London 2012:

  • Individual: 13th place, lost in Round of 16 to Aleksey Cheremisinov (RUS)

  • Team: 4th place, lost in bronze medal match to Germany

• Rio 2016: 

  • Individual: Silver medal, lost to Daniele Garozzo (ITA) in gold medal final

  • Team: Bronze medal, defeated Italy in bronze medal match

• Tokyo 2020: 

  • Individual: 18th place, lost in Round of 32 to Peter Joppich (GER)

  • Team: Bronze medal, defeated Japan in bronze medal match

Nick Itkin, Men’s Foil: Second Olympics

• Tokyo 2020: 

  • Individual: 12th place, lost in Round of 16 to Kirill Borodachev (ROC)

  • Team: Bronze medal, defeated Japan in bronze medal match

Gerek Meinhardt, Men’s Foil: Fifth Olympics

• Beijing 2008: 

  • Individual: 10th place, lost in Round of 16 to Zhu Jun (CHN)

  • Team: No men’s team foil event contested

• London 2012:

  • Individual: Competed in team event only

  • Team: 4th place, lost in bronze medal match to Germany

• Rio 2016: 

  • Individual: 5th place, lost in quarterfinals to Richard Kruse (GBR)

  • Team: Bronze medal, defeated Italy in bronze medal match

• Tokyo 2020: 

  • Individual: 17th place, lost in Round of 32 to Vladislav Mylnikov (ROC)

  • Team: Bronze medal, defeated Japan in bronze medal match

• Men’s Foil

  • The last two Olympic gold medalists in the men's individual foil event were 24 years old when they won: Daniele Garozzo of Italy (2016) and Cheung Ka-long Of Hong Kong (2020). Nick Itkin is 24.

  • The United States has never won an Olympic gold medal in men’s foil (individual or team).

  • Team USA has claimed five Olympic medals in the men’s individual foil event (three silver, two bronze), including silver medals by Albertson van Zo Post (USA, 1904), Joseph Levis (USA, 1932) and Alexander Massialas (USA, 2016).

  • If he medals, Alexander Massialas (G0-S1-B2) would tie Albertson van Zo Post (G1-S1-B2) and Mariel Zagunis (G2-S0-B2) with a record four Olympic medals among fencers representing the USA.

• Women’s Saber

  • The United States (G2-S1-B2) has won a record five Olympic medals in the women's individual saber event. Team USA’s last medals in this event date came in 2008, when it swept the podium (Mariel Zagunis — gold, Sada Jacobson — silver, Rebecca Ward — bronze).

  • If Magda Skarbonkiewicz (18) or Tatiana Nazylmov (19) earn a medal of any color, they’d be the youngest women’s individual saber medalist from any country since Becca Ward of the USA won bronze at age 18 in Beijing 2008.

Alexander Massialas

Birthday: April 20, 1994

Hometown: San Francisco, Calif.

College: Stanford University  

Current FIE World Ranking: 7

About Alexander:

2024 marks the fourth consecutive Summer Games for the 30-year-old San Francisco native ... A three-time Olympic medalist, he captured individual silver and team bronze medals in 2016 and four years later in Tokyo, tallied a bronze in team competition ... Olympic success runs in the family, as his father/coach Greg Massialas was a three-time Olympian ... Younger sister Sabrina competed in the women's foil team event in Tokyo ... Was a two-time individual NCAA Champion at Stanford University ... Became the youngest athlete ever to win a men's foil Division I National Championship at age 16 in 2010.

Nick Itkin

Birthday: Oct. 9, 1999

Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.

College: University of Notre Dame

Current FIE World Ranking: 2

About Nick:

Is a 2020 team Olympic bronze medalist (Team Foil), two-time individual World Champion medalist and a 2023 Individual Pan American Games Gold Medalist ... Two-time individual NCAA champion at Notre Dame (2018 and 2019) who became just the second men’s fencer to win back-to-back national championships in program history ... Also helped the Irish capture an NCAA team championship in 2022 ... Five-time Division I Individual National Champion (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023) ... Took foil silver at the 2023 Fencing World Championships to become the first U.S. men’s fencer, and third U.S. fencer overall, to win an individual medal at back-to-back worlds.

Gerek Meinhardt

Birthday: July 27, 1990

Hometown: Lexington, Ky.

College: University of Notre Dame

Current FIE World Ranking: 12

About Gerek:

Married to fellow Olympian Lee Kiefer … The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be his fifth Olympics (2018, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024) ... Began fencing at 9 ... Introduced to the sport after taking piano lessons from fencing coach Greg Massialas’ wife ... Two-time individual NCAA champion at Notre Dame (2010 and 2014) … First U.S. men's fencer ever to qualify for the Cadet (under 17), Junior (under 20) and Senior World teams all in the same year (2007) ... Youngest member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team in any sport … Member of the first Men's Foil Team to win a Senior World Championship (2019) ... Has been on 13 different Senior World Championship teams.

Elizabeth Tartakovsky

Birthday: May 21, 2000

Hometown: Livingston, N.J.

College: Harvard University

Current FIE World Ranking: 10

About Elizabeth:

The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be her first Olympics ... Won the NCAA National Championship in Women’s Saber as a junior at Harvard University in 2022 and captured a silver medal as a senior at the NCAA Championships in 2023 ... Earned First Team All-America honors in all three years she competed at Harvard (2019, 2022 and 2023) ... In high school, received the 2018 Essex County Scholar Athlete Award and captured the 2016 N.J. state championship in women’s saber in 2016 ... Coached by her great uncle Yury Gelman ... A native and current resident of Livingston, N.J., who is a member of the Manhattan Fencing Center.

Magda Skarbonkiewicz

Birthday: Nov. 20, 2005

Hometown: Portland, Ore.

College: University of Notre Dame (committed)

Current FIE World Ranking: 31

About Magda:

The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be her first Olympics ... Is following in the footsteps of her father, coach and former U.S. National Saber Champion Adam Skarbonkiewicz ... Double 2023 Pan American Games women’s saber champion (team and individual) who is also a two-time Junior World Champion (2022 and 2023) ... Will attend college at the University of Notre Dame as a member of the Class of 2028 ... Favorite athlete is two-time gold and five-time U.S. Olympic medalist Mariel Zagunis, who also trains at the Oregon Fencing Alliance.

Tatiana Nazlymov

Birthday: Sept. 2, 2004

Hometown: Bethesda, Md.

College: Princeton University

Current FIE World Ranking: 79

About Tatiana:

The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be her first Olympics ... Had a standout freshman year at Princeton, where she finished third at the NCAA Regional ... Held a No. 11 world junior ranking heading into her freshman season at Princeton ... Member of the 2023 and 2022 Senior World Championship Teams ... Gold medalist, 2023 Pan-American Senior Championships (women's saber team) ... Silver medalist, 2023 Plovdiv Junior Women's Saber World Cup ... Grandfather is Vladimir Nazlymov, a six-time Olympic medalist and a 10-time International Fencing Federation World Champion.