Daryl Homer (born July 16, 1990) is an American right-handed

saber A sabre (French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as the ...

fencer, three-time Olympian, and 2016 individual Olympic silver medalist. Homer competed in the

2012 London Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games 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 ...

. Homer is an eight-time team Pan American champion and three-time individual Pan American champion.

Personal life

Homer was born on

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgi ...

, to Juliette Smith and Daryl Homer. At the age of five, Homer moved to New York City with his mother and younger sister D’Meca, to an apartment on Gun Hill Road in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. Homer attended Public School 21 there before going to Salesian High School in

New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

. He eventually graduated from St. John’s University, with a degree in advertising communications. He now works for advertising and marketing agency Anomaly. Homer speaks to

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

youth about balancing his career with his athletic passions. He is a

brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person engaged by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to emb ...

at Fencing in the Schools, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that aims to enrich the lives of students in the inner city through fencing. The program focuses on the health benefits, life skills, and exposure fencing can provide students in impoverished neighborhoods.

Fencing career

Homer started fencing at the age of 11, after happening on a picture of a masked fencer in the dictionary, and finding it "very cool". He joined the

Peter Westbrook Foundation 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 ...

in New York City, a program dedicated to exposing

youth to fencing started by six-time Olympian and 1984 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 ...

. Homer chose saber because Westbrook himself had been a sabreur. Homer was quickly identified as a talented athlete, and began working with four-time Olympic coach

Yury Gelman Yury Gelman (born October 13, 1955) is a Ukrainian-born American five-time Olympic fencing coach for the United States (Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, and Rio 2016), National Men's Sabre Coach, and Head Fencing Coach for 2001 NCAA champion St. ...

immediately. He won a bronze medal at the 2007 Cadet World Fencing Championships, and another bronze at the 2009 Junior World Championships in Belfast. That same year he competed in his first senior

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

, finishing 23rd, and took the NCAA title as a sophomore. In the 2009–10 season Homer defended successfully his NCAA title. At the 2010 World Championships in Paris he defeated successively France's

Boladé Apithy Boladé Apithy (born August 21, 1985 in Dijon, France) is a French right-handed sabre fencer. His brother Yémi is also a sabre fencer; he represents Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (fre ...

and Nicolas Lopez to reach the round of 16, and finished 12th. The next season, he won the gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Championships. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

the following season to train for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, for which he qualified as a member of the top-ranked team of the Americas zone. In the individual event he defeated 15–9 Romania's

Tiberiu Dolniceanu Tiberiu Dolniceanu (; born 3 April 1988) is a Romanian sabre fencer, European champion in 2013 and bronze medal in the 2013 World championships. As part of Romania's sabre team, he won the team silver medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics and th ...

in the first round, then had a narrow 15–14 victory of world No. 2, Russia's

Aleksey Yakimenko ) , nationality = Russian , birth_date = , birth_place = Barnaul, Altai Krai, Russian SFSR, USSR , height = 1.84 m , weight = 78 kg , weapon = Sabre , hand = left-handed , club = Dynamo ...

. He lost 15–14 in the quarter-finals to another Romanian,

Rareș Dumitrescu Rareș Dumitrescu (; born 24 December 1983 in Brașov) is a Romanian sabre fencer, World silver medal in 2009. With the Romanian team he was European champion in 2006, World champion in 2009 and Olympic team silver medal in 2012. Personal life ...

, and finished sixth. In the team event, the USA lost to Russia in the quarter-finals and finished eighth. He finished the 2011–12 season no. 12 in FIE rankings. Dolniceanu v Homer 2015 WCh SMS-IN t193059

Dolniceanu v Homer 2015 WCh SMS-IN t193059

Homer maintained this ranking in the next season thanks to three quarter-final placings in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and a bronze medal at the 2013 Pan American Championships. He placed 11th at the end of the 2013–14 season. In the 2014–15 season he climbed his first World Cup podium with a bronze medal in the Seoul Grand Prix. As of July 1, 2016, he was ranked #2 in the United States, behind Team USA teammate

Eli Dershwitz Eli Dershwitz (born September 23, 1995) is an American left-handed sabre fencer, four-time individual Pan American champion, and two-time Olympian. In 2014, Dershwitz won the US Men's Saber National Championship, becoming the youngest US senio ...

. He competed for the United States in

fencing at the 2016 Summer Olympics The fencing competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 6 to 14 August at the Carioca Arena 3 inside the Barra Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca. Around 212 fencers (an equal distribution between men and women; of wh ...

. He won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

. He became the first U.S. medalist in men's saber since Peter Westbrook won a bronze medal in 1984 and the first U.S. men's silver medalist since William Grebe in 1904. The U.S. has never won gold in men's saber.http://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/August/10/Daryl-Homer-Scores-Team-USAs-First-Mens-Saber-Silver-Since-1904/ Shortly after his Olympic silver medal, he left long-time coach

and the Manhattan Fencing Center for another coach. He qualified to represent the United States in fencing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.

Medal Record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Pan American Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

*
Fencing in the Schools
program
Facebook Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homer, Daryl American male sabre fencers Living people 1990 births Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2015 Pan American Games People from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Sportspeople from the Bronx Olympic silver medalists for the United States in fencing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics American people of United States Virgin Islands descent Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Friends Seminary alumni St. John's University (New York City) alumni Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics