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Daryl Homer

HOMETOWN:
Bronx, N.Y.

BIRTH DATE:
July 16, 1990

OLYMPIC TEAMS:
2020 
2016
2012

Event: Saber
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 155 lbs
Birthplace: St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Current Residence: Bronx, N.Y.
College: Bachelor's degree in marketing from St. John's University (2013)
High School: Graduate of Salesian High School (2008)
Club: Peter Westbrook Foundation
Coach: Akhi Spencer-El

Honors

  • First U.S. men's saber fencer to win an individual silver medal at the Olympic Games since 1904
  • First U.S. man to win a medal in saber at the Senior World Championships (2015)
  • Four-time NCAA All-American (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013)

Olympic Teams: 2020, 2016 (Silver - Individual), 2012

Senior World Championship Teams: 2023, 2022, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 (Silver - Individual), 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009

Most people would be surprised to know that... I am shy. At home I'm either out with my close friends, staying in with my girlfriend, or spending time alone.  I would say I'm no where as extroverted as a lot of people would believe. Also I am a bit of a mother's boy.   
Role Model: Keeth Smart. He was truly one of the best in the world and I aspire to do the same.
Hobbies and interests: Advertising (my major in school), photography, motivational books, life success stories

Personal: Homer read about fencing in a dictionary when he was five years old and says he begged his mother to let him take up the sport. Homer's mother, Juliette Smith, looked up fencing clubs in the phone book and found the New York Fencer's Club. The family showed up to practice on a Saturday, met six-time Olympian Peter Westbrook -- founder of the Peter Westbrook Foundation -- and started to fence for the club. A two-time Junior World medalist, Homer finished sixth at the 2012 Olympic Games and made history in 2015 when he won a silver medal at the Senior World Championships -- becoming the first U.S. man ever to win a medal in saber at the event. One year later, Homer won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the first men’s saber individual medal since 1984 and the first silver since 1904. He is just the fourth U.S. man ever to win an individual men’s saber medal at the Games.

Homer says he has met people from all over the world, made many new friends and interacted with so many cultures. "I am thankful that I have been able to succeed in both fencing, and gain memorable experiences from it. I don't know too many other people who could say they explored Europe with their closest friends as teenagers," Homer said. "Fencing has shaped the way I think about life. It has allowed me to learn dedication, focus and provided me with a formula capable of working in all sectors of my life. I would say that in the group of fencers I started with that I wasn't the best. I have to thank my coach for continuously working with me and motivating me despite my lackluster results as a youth."