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Nick Itkin

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Nick Itkin
Born (1999-10-09) October 9, 1999 (age 25)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm) [1]
Weight157 lb (71 kg) [1]
Sport
Country United States
WeaponFoil
Handright-handed
ClubLos Angeles International Fencing Center[2]
Head coachMichael Itkin
FIE rankingcurrent ranking
Medal record
Men's foil
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Individual
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Cairo Team
Silver medal – second place 2023 Milan Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Cairo Individual
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Individual
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Team
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Toronto Team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Asunción Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Lima Team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Lima Individual
Gold medal – first place 2024 Lima Team
Silver medal – second place 2023 Lima Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Asunción Individual
US National Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Salt Lake City Individual
Gold medal – first place 2018 Philadelphia Individual
Gold medal – first place 2021 St. Louis Individual
Gold medal – first place 2022 Charlotte Individual
Gold medal – first place 2023 St. Louis Individual
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Plovdiv Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Verona Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Verona Team

Nick Itkin (/ˈɪtkɪn/ IT-kin; born October 9, 1999)[3] is an American foil fencer. He is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, two-time World Championship individual medalist, 2023 Pan American Games team gold medalist, 2024 Pan American Games team gold medalist, and two-time NCAA individual champion.[4][5]

He earned the foil individual silver medal at the 2023 World Fencing Championships, to become the first U.S. man, and third U.S. fencer overall, to win individual medals at back-to-back World Fencing Championships. Itkin competed in his second Olympic Games representing the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the individual foil competition.

Early life

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Itkin was born in Los Angeles, California, and is Jewish.[6][7] His parents are Michael ("Misha"; a fencing coach) and Tatiana (a former rhythmic gymnast, and current coach).[8][9][10] His father emigrated from Ukraine to the United States, and opened up a fencing club in Los Angeles.[11] His older sister Julia competed in rhythmic gymnastics for the US national team.[10] He attended Palisades Charter High School, graduating in 2017.[10]

Fencing career

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2015–19: Junior World Champion

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Itkin trains under his father at Los Angeles International Fencing Center, which his father founded in 2003.[9] In 2015, he was a Cadet Junior Olympics bronze medalist, and in 2016 he was a Cadet Pan American Championships gold medalist.[12] In 2017 he was a Junior Pan American Championships silver medalist.[12]

At the 2018 Junior World Fencing Championships in Verona, Italy, Itkin won the gold medal in foil.[13] He defeated future world champion Tommaso Marini of Italy in the final.[14] He also won a team bronze medal at the championships.[1] When he then also won consecutive NCAA fencing championships in foil, in 2018 and 2019 as he fenced for the University of Notre Dame where he studied political science, he decided to pursue fencing at the senior level.[12][15][16] In 2018 he became the first American fencer to win gold medals at all three of the NCAA Fencing Championships, the US National Fencing championships, and the Junior World Fencing Championship in the same year.[17][18] In 2019 he also won a team gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Fencing Championships in Toronto, Canada.[19]

2020–23: First Olympics team medal and back-to-back World Championship medals

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Itkin won the gold medal at a 2020 World Cup in Paris, becoming the youngest top-10 foil fencer in the world.[9] Among other victories, in the competition he defeated the reigning world champion and world No. 3 Enzo Lefort of France, and the reigning Olympic champion Daniele Garozzo of Italy.[20]

In 2021, Itkin won the U.S. National Championship in foil, in Philadelphia.[9]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, at 21 years of age, Itkin won a bronze medal with Team USA in the men's team foil competition.[21][8] He came in 12th in the individual men's foil competition at the Olympics.[1] At the 2022 Pan American Fencing Championships in Asunción, Paraguay, he won a team gold medal, and an individual bronze medal.[22]

Itkin won an individual bronze medal in men's foil at the 2022 World Fencing Championships in Cairo, Egypt.[18] In the competition, he defeated world No. 6 Takahiro Shikine of Japan and former world champion and world No. 3 Alessio Foconi of Italy, before losing to Enzo Lefort of France by a score of 15–14 in the semifinals.[18] Lefort won the final to become a two-time reigning world champion.[23]

In 2023, Itkin won the U.S. National Championship in foil for the fifth time, having won five of the six national championships contested between 2017 and 2023. With the 2023 championship, Itkin moved into fourth place on the all-time list of men's foil fencers with the most U.S. national indoor titles.[24]

Despite not winning an individual medal at any of the Grand Prix or World Cup events during the 2023 season, Itkin improved on his 2022 World Championships performance by winning the silver medal in Individual Men's Foil at the 2023 World Fencing Championships. In a 2024 interview, Itkin discussed his tendency to perform better under pressure: "I just love that atmosphere, where the crowd is yelling and everyone's cheering, because when it's not like that, I have to kind of yell and force myself to get that kind of energy and atmosphere coming, but when it's already there naturally it's just so much easier for me."[25] This medal was Itkin's third Senior Worlds medal in the past two years: individual bronze and team silver in 2022 and now individual silver in 2023.[26] He became the first U.S. man, and third U.S. fencer overall, to win individual medals at back-to-back World Fencing Championships.[27][28]

2024–present: World No. 1 and Olympic individual bronze medal

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At the Foil Grand Prix held in Washington, D.C. in 2024, Itkin secured the gold medal in front of a home crowd.[29] En route to his victory, Itkin defeated two-time Olympic individual medalist Daniele Garozzo of Italy by a score of 15-9 and fellow Italian and world No. 9 Filippo Macchi 15-6 before defeating Enzo Lefort of France 15-12 in the gold medal match, which was his closest bout of the tournament. In a dominant performance, Itkin outscored his opponents in D.C. by a combined count of 90-47.[30] With this victory, Itkin became the top-ranked men's foil fencer in the world for the 2024 season.[31]

Itkin competed in his second Olympic Games representing the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He won a bronze medal in the individual foil competition, defeating Japanese fencer and World No. 9 Kazuki Iimura in the bronze medal match to become just the fifth ever American foil fencer to bring home an individual Olympic medal.[32] Fencing with Team USA in the team foil event, he and the team came in fourth.[33]

Medal record

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Olympic Games

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Year Location Event Position
2021 Japan Tokyo, Japan Team Men's Foil 3rd[34]
2024 France Paris, France Individual Men's Foil 3rd[35]

World Championship

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Year Location Event Position
2022 Egypt Cairo, Egypt Individual Men's Foil 3rd[36]
2022 Egypt Cairo, Egypt Team Men's Foil 2nd[37]
2023 Italy Milan, Italy Individual Men's Foil 2nd[28]

Grand Prix

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Date Location Event Position
2019-05-17 China Shanghai, China Individual Men's Foil 2nd[38]
2024-02-10 Italy Turin, Italy Individual Men's Foil 3rd[39]
2024-03-17 United States Washington, D.C., United States Individual Men's Foil 1st[40]

World Cup

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Date Location Event Position
2018-11-09 Germany Bonn, Germany Individual Men's Foil 3rd[41]
2020-01-10 France Paris, France Individual Men's Foil 1st[42]
2023-05-07 Mexico Acapulco, Mexico Team Men's Foil 1st[43]
2024-11-24 Tunisia Tunis, Tunisia Team Men's Foil 2nd[44]

Pan American Championship

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Year Location Event Position
2019 Canada Toronto, Canada Team Men's Foil 1st[45]
2022 Paraguay Asunción, Paraguay Individual Men's Foil 3rd[46]
2022 Paraguay Asunción, Paraguay Team Men's Foil 1st[47]
2023 Peru Lima, Peru Individual Men's Foil 2nd[48]
2023 Peru Lima, Peru Team Men's Foil 1st[49]
2024 Peru Lima, Peru Individual Men's Foil 1st[50]
2024 Peru Lima, Peru Team Men's Foil 1st[51]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Nick Itkin; Foil Fencing," Team USA.
  2. ^ "Nick Itkin". The International Fencing Federation.
  3. ^ "ITKIN Nick". Olympics.com. 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "Nick Itkin". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  5. ^ "Nick Itkin keeps climbing with another fencing worlds medal"
  6. ^ "Jewish fencers make up nearly a third of the 2024 US Olympic fencing team in Paris," JTA.
  7. ^ Harrison, Donald H. (August 11, 2021). "Jewish Athletes Made Their Marks at Olympics".
  8. ^ a b Faygie Holt (August 11, 2021). "Jewish Athletes Made Their Marks at Olympics". San Diego Jewish World.
  9. ^ a b c d David Wharton (July 18, 2021). "SoCal phenom Nick Itkin could help Americans win first Olympic team fencing title". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ a b c Sue Pascoe (July 22, 2021). "PaliHi Grad Nick Itkin, a Fencer, Will Compete in the Olympics". Circling the News.
  11. ^ "Jewish fencers make up nearly a third of the 2024 US Olympic fencing team in Paris," JTA.
  12. ^ a b c "Nick Itkin". Notre Dame Fighting Irish. July 9, 2018.
  13. ^ Bloom, Nate (August 16, 2021). "A fairly comprehensive list of Diaspora Jews at the Tokyo Olympics". The Jewish Standard/Times of Israel.
  14. ^ Henneman, Kristen (April 7, 2018). "Nick Itkin Wins Junior World Championships, Team USA Claims Three Foil Medals". USA Fencing.
  15. ^ David Wharton (July 18, 2021). "SoCal phenom Nick Itkin could help Americans win first Olympic team fencing title". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  16. ^ Bloom, Nate (August 3, 2021). "Meet the Olympic Members of the Tribe". Detroit Jewish News.
  17. ^ Igor Chirashnya (August 2, 2020). "2020 Olympic Talk with Top Ranked Foilist Nick Itkin". Academy of Fencing Masters Blog.
  18. ^ a b c Ethan Olson (July 20, 2022). "Foil Fencer Nick Itkin Wins First World Championships Medal In Cairo," Team USA.
  19. ^ Perelman, Rich (July 7, 2019). "Fencing: U.S. finishes with five of six team titles in Pan American Championships". The Sports Examiner.
  20. ^ Henneman, Kristen (January 15, 2020). "Nick Itkin, Team USA Sweep the Golds at the Paris World Cup". USA Fencing.
  21. ^ "Nick Itkin joins U.S. foil fencing greats to win world championships medal". NBC Sports. July 20, 2022.
  22. ^ Wendell, Bryan (June 9, 2022). "Team USA Finishes Atop Medal Table With Seven Golds at 2022 Pan American Senior Championships in Paraguay". USA Fencing.
  23. ^ "International Fencing Federation". International Fencing Federation.
  24. ^ Wendell, Bryan (April 22, 2023). "April 2023 NAC, Day 2: Columbia's Nora Burke Follows NCAA Title With National Championship". USA Fencing. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  25. ^ > "Nick Itkin on Becoming World No. 1 and Training for the Olympic Games Paris 2024". First to 15 on Simplecast (Podcast). USA Fencing. April 1, 2024. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  26. ^ Wendell, Bryan (July 27, 2023). "2023 Worlds Recap, Day 6: Nick Itkin Wins Individual Silver in Men's Foil, His Third Worlds Medal in the Past Two Years". USA Fencing. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  27. ^ "Pan American Games"
  28. ^ a b "Nick Itkin keeps climbing with another fencing worlds medal". NBC Sports. July 27, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  29. ^ Wendell, Bryan (March 17, 2024). "Monumental! Team USA Fencers Sweep Gold Medals at D.C. Foil Grand Prix". USA Fencing. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  30. ^ "International Fencing Federation". International Fencing Federation.
  31. ^ "Nick Itkin". International Fencing Federation.
  32. ^ Wendell, Bryan (May 1, 2024). "USA Fencing Announces Full Roster for Olympic Games Paris 2024". USA Fencing. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  33. ^ Will Horstman (August 4, 2024). "Former Penn Stater Miles Chamley-Watson and Team USA fell in the men's team foil bronze medal bout," The Daily Collegian.
  34. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  35. ^ "29 Jul 2024 olympic Games". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  36. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federatio. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  37. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  38. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  39. ^ "10 Feb 2024 grand Prix". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  40. ^ "16 Mar 2024 grand Prix". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  41. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  42. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  43. ^ "07 May 2023 world Cup". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  44. ^ "24 Nov 2024 world cup". INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  45. ^ "01 Jul 2019 zone Championships". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  46. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  47. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  48. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  49. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  50. ^ "25 Jun 2024 zone Championships". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  51. ^ "28 Jun 2024 zone Championships". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
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