The Most Famous

FENCERS from United States

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This page contains a list of the greatest American Fencers. The pantheon dataset contains 349 Fencers, 12 of which were born in United States. This makes United States the birth place of the 6th most number of Fencers behind Russia, and South Korea.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary American Fencers of all time. This list of famous American Fencers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of American Fencers.

Photo of George Calnan

1. George Calnan (1900 - 1933)

With an HPI of 49.52, George Calnan is the most famous American Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.

George Charles Calnan (January 18, 1900 – April 4, 1933) was a United States Navy officer who also competed for the United States as a fencer. Competing in four Summer Olympics, he earned three bronze medals (Individual épée: 1928, Team foil: 1932, Team épée: 1932) A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Calnan did not start fencing until he was a student at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. By the time he was a senior, he was captain of the Navy's fencing team. Two years later, Calnan competed for the United States at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris where he finished tied for fifth in the team épée competition. Calnan took the Olympic Oath at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Calnan was among the 73 fatalities of the USS Akron crash in 1933. He had a lieutenant's rank at the time of the crash. He was posthumously inducted in the US Fencing Hall of Fame in 1963, among the first inductees. He is also the namesake of the George C. Calnan Memorial Trophy, which is given to the three-weapon championship team.

Photo of Albertson Van Zo Post

2. Albertson Van Zo Post (1866 - 1938)

With an HPI of 47.57, Albertson Van Zo Post is the 2nd most famous American Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Albertson Van Zo Post (July 28, 1866 – January 23, 1938) was an American fencer and writer. He earned two gold medals in the 1904 Summer Olympics as well as a silver and two bronze medals, and also competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. Post was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Caroline Burnet, a daughter of General Nathaniel McLean, and Henry A. V. Post, an engineer and sharpshooter during the American Civil War. Albertson, known as Van Zo, was the eldest of seven children; his brother Edwin married the etiquette writer Emily Post. He studied civil engineering at the Columbia College School of Mines, graduating in 1889. Shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Van Zo entered the 12th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, serving from May 2 to December 22, 1898 and achieving the rank of captain. In the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Post won the gold medal in the singlestick and team foil competition, silver in individual foil and bronze in individual épée and individual sabre. Although from the United States, Van Zo Post was listed as representing Cuba in the Olympics. The majority (81%) of Olympic athletes at the 1904 games were from the United States, but were listed as representing various countries. Eight years later in Stockholm he reached to the quarterfinals in individual foil, individual épée and individual sabre and did not advance from first round in the team épée competition. He was also an author, penning the novels Retz (1908) and Diana Ardway (1913), the latter of which was adapted into the 1919 silent comedy Satan Junior. In 1933, at the age of 65, Post married the educator Meta Louise Anderson. Post died in New York City in 1938, and his widow died in 1942.

Photo of Ibtihaj Muhammad

3. Ibtihaj Muhammad (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 32.10, Ibtihaj Muhammad is the 3rd most famous American Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Ibtihaj Muhammad (born December 4, 1985) is an American former sabre fencer, writer, and fashion designer. She is best known for being the first woman to wear hijab while competing for the United States in the Olympics Games, and for being part of the sabre team that won a bronze medal in the Olympics .

Photo of Mariel Zagunis

4. Mariel Zagunis (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 30.26, Mariel Zagunis is the 4th most famous American Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Mariel Leigh Zagunis (born March 3, 1985) is an American sabre fencer. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the individual sabre (2004 and 2008) and the first American woman to win a gold medal in fencing at the Olympics (which happened in 2004). She was Team USA flag bearer in the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. She has two Olympic bronze team medals (in 2008 and 2016) and is a five-time Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020).

Photo of Race Imboden

5. Race Imboden (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 25.22, Race Imboden is the 5th most famous American Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Race Alick Reid Imboden (born April 17, 1993) is an American left-handed former foil fencer. He is a nine-time team Pan American champion, six-time individual Pan American champion, and 2019 team world champion. A three-time Olympian, Imboden is a two-time team Olympic bronze medalist. He competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. In addition to his fencing career, Imboden is also a menswear fashion model.

Photo of Alexander Massialas

6. Alexander Massialas (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 24.35, Alexander Massialas is the 6th most famous American Fencer.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Alexander Massialas ( MAH-see-AH-liss; born April 20, 1994) is an American right-handed foil fencer. Massialas is a two-time NCAA champion, 11-time team Pan American champion, two-time individual Pan American champion, and 2019 team world champion. A three-time Olympian, Massialas is a 2016 individual Olympic silver medalist and two-time team Olympic bronze medalist. Massialas competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Photo of Maya Lawrence

7. Maya Lawrence (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 23.97, Maya Lawrence is the 7th most famous American Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Maya Lawrence (born 1980) is an American fencer and part of the United States Fencing Team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she participated in the individual and team épée events in the Fencing competition. She won a bronze medal in the women's team épée alongside Courtney Hurley, Kelley Hurley, and Susie Scanlan. Lawrence grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and attended Teaneck High School, where she took up fencing as a sophomore before graduating in 1998. Her parents are Pat Lawrence, Teaneck High School's fencing coach, and Reginald Lawrence, who has been a sports official in New Jersey. In 2002, Lawrence graduated with honors from Princeton University with a double major in political science and African-American studies. A member of Princeton's fencing team, she was selected as an All-American and earned Ivy League honors during all four years of her attendance there. She earned a Master's degree in English as a Second Language instruction in 2007 from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Photo of Sada Jacobson

8. Sada Jacobson (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 20.29, Sada Jacobson is the 8th most famous American Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Sada Molly Jacobson (born February 14, 1983) is an American Olympic fencer. She is the 2008 Olympic Individual Sabre silver medalist in women's sabre (one of three Olympic medals), 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.

Photo of Lee Kiefer

9. Lee Kiefer (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 19.85, Lee Kiefer is the 9th most famous American Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Lee Kiefer ( KEE-fər; born June 15, 1994) is an American right-handed foil fencer and three-time Olympic champion in women's foil, having won the individual event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and the individual and team events at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She is the most decorated women's foil fencer in American history. Kiefer is an NCAA team champion, a four-time NCAA individual champion, a 12-time team Pan American champion, a 13-time individual Pan American champion, and the 2018 team world champion. A four-time Olympian, Kiefer is a 2020 and 2024 individual Olympic champion. She is the first American foil fencer in history to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Her foil fencing victory at the Olympics made her the first non-European woman to do so. Kiefer competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. She represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, in women's foil and women's team foil (with Jackie Dubrovich, Lauren Scruggs, and Maia Weintraub), winning gold medals in both.

Photo of Rebecca Ward

10. Rebecca Ward (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 19.52, Rebecca Ward is the 10th most famous American Fencer.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Rebecca Ward (born February 7, 1990) is an American sabre fencer. She won the gold medal at the sabre 2006 World Fencing Championships after beating Mariel Zagunis 15–11 in the final, and took bronze in both individual and team sabre events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She also won the women's NCAA national individual sabre championship three times (2009, 2011, 2012), the first in history to do so in sabre. In 2015, she was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame.

People

Pantheon has 22 people classified as American fencers born between 1866 and 2000. Of these 22, 20 (90.91%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living American fencers include Ibtihaj Muhammad, Mariel Zagunis, and Race Imboden. The most famous deceased American fencers include George Calnan, and Albertson Van Zo Post. As of April 2024, 10 new American fencers have been added to Pantheon including Sada Jacobson, Tim Morehouse, and Jacqueline Dubrovich.

Living American Fencers

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Deceased American Fencers

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Newly Added American Fencers (2024)

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