Curtis McDowald (born January 23, 1996) is an American

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

fencer. He competed in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. McDowald is currently on a temporary suspension issue by USA Fencing in November 2023 pending investigation.

Early life

McDowald was born in

Jamaica, Queens, New York Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springf ...

."Curtis McDowald"
Team USA. His mother, Demetria Goodwin, works at the

Riker's Island Rikers Island is a island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that contains New York City's main jail complex. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was originally under in size, but has ...

jail. He attended the Dwight School, a college preparatory school on

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...

on Manhattan's

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

in New York City, for high school.

Fencing career

Early years

McDowald began fencing at 12 years of age. He attended St. John's University ('18), in Queens, New York, where he fenced for the St. John's Red Storm. His fencing club is the Peter Westbrook Foundation. In 2017, the ''Queens Newsletter'' reported that former Olympic bronze medalist

Peter Westbrook Peter Jonathan Westbrook (born April 16, 1952) is an American former sabre fencing champion, active businessman and founder of the Peter Westbrook Foundation. A former U.S. champion and Olympic medalist, Westbrook's career began when his Japanes ...

"remembered a much different McDowald, a young and smug one, when he began fencing. He recalled his initial doubts about his character... 'Now, he’s become humble,' Westbrook said. 'One day, Curtis is going to make that Olympic team. Before, he couldn’t because his pride and ego got in the way. We smacked that out of him...'" In June 2018 he won a bronze medal in épée at the

2018 Pan American Fencing Championships The 2018 Pan American Fencing Championships was held in Havana, Cuba from 15 to 20 June 2018 at the Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva. The top seven teams (+ hosts Peru) in each team event qualified for the Fencing at the 2019 Pan American Games, 2 ...

. In March 2019 McDowald won a bronze medal at a

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Fencing World Cup The FIE Fencing World Cup is an international fencing competition held by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime. In each weapon (Men's and Women's Épée, Sabre and Foil), three Grand Prix, five World Cup events and several satellite events ...

in Argentina.

2020—present

He competed in the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

, where he lost in his opening round of individual épée, and fenced with the US epee squad that lost in its opening round of team épée. In 2021, a '' GQ'' journalist described his personal admiration for McDowald, but noted that he was in the minority and that one commenter feared McDowald's approach to fencing would lead to it being "full of disrespectful trash players." In June 2023 McDowald was ranked 57th in the world in

. In June 2023, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' reported that McDowald through his misbehavior may have destroyed the opportunity of his entire Team USA men's épée squad to compete at the

2024 Paris Olympics ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summe ...

. McDowald was fencing as part of the squad in the semi-finals at the

Pan American Fencing Championships The Pan American Fencing Championships ( es, link=no, Campeonato Panamericano de Esgrima; french: link=no, Championnats Panaméricains) are an annual top-level fencing (sport), fencing tournament organized by the Pan American Fencing Confederation. ...

in Lima, Peru. After he was penalized for misbehavior lost the match, when his opponent extended his hand seeking a post-match handshake, instead McDowald angrily slapped the fencer's hand. He then had an angry outburst and kicked a free-standing banner adjacent to the competition area, putting his foot through it. Because of his actions, the entire U.S. men's épée team was completely disqualified, preventing it from competing in the bronze-medal match, and was not given a finishing position at the tournament. It was thereby stripped of its accumulated points, and left with zero Olympic qualifying points. The U.S. had entered the Games as the top-ranked team in the event. USA Fencing released a statement saying: "We are disappointed by Curtis's actions and regret that they have harmed Team USA's chances of fielding a men's épée team for the 2024 Olympics." It said McDowald would not be eligible to compete at the 2023

Fencing World Championships The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE; ''International Fencing Federation'' in English). Contestants may participate in foil, épée, and sabre events. Hi ...

. In the fall of 2023, McDowald competed at the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2023, links=no), officially the XIX Pan American Games and commonly known as Santiago 2023, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, s ...

in Santiago, Chile, as a member of the U.S. men's épée team that won the gold medal. He was required to stay in a separate hotel away from the Athlete Village, because of an ongoing investigation into a prior incident over which the U.S. Center for SafeSport (SafeSport) had exercised jurisdiction. Subsequently, on November 3, 2023, McDowald was temporarily suspended by USA Fencing due to allegations that he had engaged in misconduct in an unrelated incident. He was prohibited from being present at any USA Fencing sanctioned event, club, meeting, facility, education session, or otherwise. SafeSport upheld the temporary suspension, and exercised jurisdiction over the matter.

References

External links