
Breathtaking. Unexpected. Deserved.
Any and all of us who have been in and around American fencing for the last few decades know that where we are today is almost unrecognizable from where we were thirty years ago.
This journey inspired me to write a book about it – From Cool Runnings to World Superpower: The Rise of American Fencing. Which goes on sale on June 14th, 2019!
The story of how America rose to the top is one that is as exciting as anything you’ll read about in sports. It’s intertwined with global politics, because we discover that America became home to some of the greatest fencing talent in the world thanks to the end of the Cold War. That talent, coupled with the incredible innovation that is the hallmark of the American ideal, has come together to create a story that it’s impossible to put down.
What happened with American fencers is the kind of transformation that you see in movies. In fact, it made me think of a classic Olympic film, Cool Runnings. You know the one, it’s the very fictionalized account of the real events that led to the first Jamaican bobsled team. U.S. fencers at one time were almost as much of a longshot as the bobsledders from the Caribbean, though without the comedy we see in the movie.