Keeth Smart

Keeth Smart

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
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Sport
Sport Fencing
Medal record
Men's fencing
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Sabre Team

Keeth Thomas Smart[1] (born July 29, 1978) is a US sabre fencer who became the first American to gain the sport's #1 ranking for males. He received a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.[2][3]

Early life and education

Smart was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City.[4] His parents were Thomas R. Smart Jr. (a production manager[4] and later an economist) and Liz Smart (a teacher).[1] At the urging of his parents, he and his younger sister Erinn began to learn fencing at the Peter Westbrook Foundation,[4] whose founder, Olympic sabre bronze-medalist Peter Westbrook, was his mentor.

Smart graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1996.[5] He graduated from St. John's University in New York, majoring in finance.[5] He received his MBA from Columbia University in 2010 and now works at a major bank.[4]

Fencing career

During college, he was the NCAA sabre champion in 1997 and 1999, and took second place in 2001.

He was a member of the 1999 Pan American Games bronze medal team. He has competed in three Olympic Games. In the individual Olympic men's sabre competition, he placed 30th in the 2000 Olympic Games, 15th in 2004, 4th in the team event, 6th in 2008, and he won the silver medal in the team event. His sister Erinn also earned a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics.[4]

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.

Personal life

Keeth married Shyra (Cooper) Smart on May 27, 2007 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[1] They live in Brooklyn, NY with their daughter, Taylor Smart. Keeth and his sister, Erinn, are actively involved in the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Shyra Cooper, Keeth Smart", The New York Times, 27 May 2007.
  2. ↑ "Olympics Statistics: Keeth Smart". databaseolympics.com. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
  3. ↑ "Keeth Smart Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Olivesi, Marine. "'Three Musketeers' from Flatbush say goodbye to high-level fencing", The Columbia Journalist, 14 September 2008.
  5. 1 2 Profile at US Fencing
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.