Keeth Smart

Last updated

Keeth Smart
PWFATHENS.jpg
2004 Fencing Olympians from Peter Westbrook Foundation, Keeth Smart, Erinn Smart, Ivan Lee, and Kamara James (l-r)
Personal information
Born (1978-07-29) July 29, 1978 (age 46)
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Height6 ft (183 cm) [1]
Weight165 lb (75 kg) [1]
Sport
Sport Fencing
Event saber
College team St. John's University
Club Manhattan Fencing Club [2]
Coached by Yury Gelman [1]
Medal record
Men's fencing
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Beijing Sabre Team

Keeth Thomas Smart [3] (born July 29, 1978) is an American saber fencer, who was the first American to gain the sport's top ranking for males in saber. A three-time Olympian, he won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in team sabre. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life and education

Smart was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City. [6] His parents were Thomas R. Smart Jr. (a production manager [6] and later an economist) and Liz Smart (a teacher who had come to the United States from Jamaica). [3] [7] At the urging of his parents, he and his younger sister Erinn began to learn fencing at the Peter Westbrook Foundation, [6] whose founder, Olympic sabre bronze-medalist Peter Westbrook, was his mentor.

Smart graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1996. [8] He graduated from St. John's University in New York City in 2001, majoring in finance. [8] He later received his MBA from Columbia University in 2010, and now works as a Senior Vice President for Chelsea Piers Fitness which he had joined in 2017. [6] [9]

Fencing career

Smart's fencing coach was Yury Gelman. [1]

During college, Smart was the NCAA sabre champion in 1997 and 1999, and took second place in 2001. [10]

He was a member of the 1999 Pan American Games bronze medal team.

Smart competed in three Olympic Games in men's saber. [10] He placed 30th in the individual competition in the 2000 Olympic Games. He then placed 15th in the individual competition and 4th in the team competition at the 2004 Olympic Games. [1] [10]

He placed 6th in the individual competition at the 2008 Olympic Games, defeating eventual three-time individual Olympic champion Áron Szilágyi along the way, and won a silver medal in the 2008 team event. [1] [10] In the saber team semi-finals the United States had been losing to Russia 40–35, before Smart outscored Russian Stanislav Pozdnyakov 10–4 for the win, with Team USA beating the Russians 45–44, allowing the Americans to go on to win the silver medal. [11] [12] It was the first Olympic medal for the US men's saber team since 1948. [1]

His sister Erinn also earned a silver medal as part of the US women's foil team at the 2008 Olympics. [6] [1]

In 2002 and 2004, Smart won the US national sabre championship. In 2003, he became the first American to be named the top-ranked fencer internationally. [1] [2] [13]

Personal life

Keeth married Shyra (Cooper) Smart on May 27, 2007 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. [3] They live in Brooklyn, New York, with their two children. Keeth and his sister Erinn are actively involved in the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York City.

See also

Related Research Articles

Peter Jonathan Westbrook is a distinguished American former sabre fencing national and Pan American Games champion, Olympic bronze medalist, and founder of the Peter Westbrook Foundation (PWF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit that uses fencing as a vehicle for developing life and academic skills of young people from under-served communities of New York City.

Sada Molly Jacobson is an American Olympic fencer. She is the 2008 Olympic Individual Sabre silver medalist in women's sabre, the 2004 Olympic Individual Sabre bronze medalist in women's sabre, and the 2003 Pan American Games champion in women's sabre. In 2016, she was inducted into the United States Fencing Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariel Zagunis</span> American fencer (born 1985)

Mariel Leigh Zagunis is an American sabre fencer. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the individual sabre and the first American woman to win a gold medal in fencing at the Olympics. She was Team USA flag bearer in the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. She has two Olympic bronze team medals and is a five-time Olympian.

Allan S. Kwartler, born in New York City, was an American sabre and foil fencer. He was Pan-American sabre champion, 3-time Olympian, and twice a member of sabre teams that earned 4th-place in Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Lee</span> American sabre fencer, referee and coach (born 1981)

Ivan James Lee is an American Olympic sabre fencer and coach. He was a two-time NCAA Men's Sabre Champion, a five-time national sabre champion, and was inducted into the US Fencing Association Hall of Fame. He worked as a police officer in the New York City Police Department from 2008 until 2022, and as the Women's Fencing Team Head Coach at Long Island University from 2019 until December 2023. Lee was elected Chair of the board of directors of USA Fencing in September 2023. He was suspended by USA Fencing in December 2023, for his alleged conduct that would constitute a violation of the U.S. Center for SafeSport (SafeSport) Code. Lee resigned when he was informed of his suspension. His suspension was upheld by SafeSport on January 4, 2024, lifted by SafeSport on January 16 while it continued its investigation of Lee’s conduct, and then reimposed by SafeSport in February 2024. In February 2024 Lee was arrested on charges of forcible touching, sexual abuse, and harassment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Worth</span> Hungarian-American fencer

George Vitéz Worth was a Hungarian-born American sabre Olympic medalist fencer.

Mika'il Sankofa is a world recognized sabre fencer and coach. He competed in the individual and team sabre events at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Morehouse</span> American fencer

Timothy Frank Morehouse is an American fencer who won a Silver Medal competing in the men's sabre as a member of the United States fencing team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Morehouse is coached by Yury Gelman. He is the founder of the Fencing in the Schools program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erinn Smart</span> American fencer (born 1980)

Erinn Smart is an American foil fencer who was a member of the United States fencing ream at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she competed in the women's individual and team foil events. Smart is 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m), weighs 125 pounds (57 kg), and is coached by Buckie Leach. Smart's brother Keeth is also a nationally ranked competitive fencer who also started fencing with the Peter Westbrook Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanislav Pozdnyakov</span> Russian fencer

Stanislav Alekseyevich Pozdnyakov is a Russian former fencer, five-time Olympian (1992–2008), and five-time Olympic medalist in individual and team sabre competitions who served as president of the Russian Olympic Committee. He is also a ten-time individual and team world champion, in 1994–2007. In 2022, he was removed from his position as European Fencing Confederation (EFC) president at an Extraordinary Congress following a unanimous vote of no confidence in Pozdnyakov, due to his conduct in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Abram "Abe" DreyerCohen was an American Olympic foil, épée, and sabre fencer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yury Gelman</span> American fencing coach

Yury Gelman is a Ukrainian-born American five-time Olympic fencing coach for the United States, National Men's Sabre Coach, and Head Fencing Coach for 2001 NCAA champion St. John's University. Gelman is a founder of the Manhattan Fencing Center in New York City and has prepared 22 students for the United States National Teams.

Joel Arthur Glucksman is an American Olympic saber fencer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattan Fencing Center</span>

The Manhattan Fencing Center in Manhattan, New York City, was founded in 2007 by Yury Gelman. It is the home to the Olympic silver medal saber team (Beijing), three top 8 finishers in the 2012 London Olympics, a number of members of the U.S. National Men's and Women's Saber Team, and world, national, and NCAA champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daryl Homer</span> American fencer (born 1990)

Daryl Homer is an American right-handed saber fencer, three-time Olympian, and 2016 individual Olympic silver medalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eli Dershwitz</span> American Olympic sabre fencer

Eli Dershwitz is an American left-handed saber fencer, five-time individual Pan American champion, three-time Olympian, and the 2023 saber World Champion.

Caira Moreira-Brown is an American épée fencer who was a member of the United States fencing team for the junior Pan American Games where she took home a bronze in individuals and gold in teams in 2015 in Toronto, Canada. Moreira-Brown was born and raised in New York City. She began fencing at the age of 15 after being introduced to it by her cousins, Keeth and Erinn Smart, both Olympic Silver medalist, in different weapons. Before taking up fencing, she had taken ballet, ice skating, tennis and track. Similar to both of her cousins she began and has continued fencing at The Peter Westbrook Foundation. Whose founder, Olympic saber bronze-medalist Peter Westbrook, has been one of her mentors.

Andrew Mackiewicz is an American saber fencer. He competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The Ukrainian Fencing Federation commonly known by the acronym NFFU, established in 1992, is the governing body of Ukrainian fencing. Through 2022, Ukrainian fencers won 230 medals combined in the Olympic Games, World championships, and European championships.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Keeth Smart". USA Fencing.
  2. 1 2 Robinson, Joshua (July 23, 2008). "Sticking Together, Up to a Point". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 3 "Weddings/Celebrations; Shyra Cooper, Keeth Smart", The New York Times, 27 May 2007.
  4. ↑ "Olympics Statistics: Keeth Smart". databaseolympics.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Keeth Smart Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Olivesi, Marine. "'Three Musketeers' from Flatbush say goodbye to high-level fencing", The Columbia Journalist, 14 September 2008.
  7. ↑ Curtis Bunn (February 5, 2020). "'Stay Close': PBS film spotlights race, adversity and a black man's rare success in the sport of fencing". NBC News.
  8. 1 2 Profile at US Fencing
  9. ↑ Zabonick-Chonko, Rachel (March 30, 2022). "Keeth Smart: The Bottom Line". Club Solutions Magazine.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Olympedia – Keeth Smart". www.olympedia.org.
  11. ↑ Vecsey, George (August 17, 2008). "Fencer and His Team Rise Above a Lot". The New York Times.
  12. ↑ "Turnabout: US saber team wins twice by a point". USA Fencing. August 17, 2008.
  13. ↑ Williams, Lena (March 28, 2003). "Fencing; Fencer from Brooklyn Earns Top World Ranking". The New York Times.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.