Erinn Smart (born January 12, 1980Erinn Smart
, USA Fencing. Accessed July 27, 2012.) is an American fencer who was a member of the United States Fencing Team at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where she competed in the women's individual and team

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

events. Smart is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs 125 pounds, and is coached by Buckie Leach. Smart's brother Keeth is also a nationally ranked competitive fencer who also started fencing with 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 ...

Early life and education

Smart was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and lived on

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Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Before taking up fencing, she had taken ballet, ice skating, tennis and track. After her father, an employee at ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', learned about a program aimed at encouraging minority participation in fencing, she began to take up the sport at age 11 at the

, whose founder, Olympic saber 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 ...

, has been her mentor. Her brother Keeth, 18 months her senior, took up the sport six months later.Athlete Profile: Erinn Smart
, US Fencing. Accessed August 5, 2008.Robbins, Liz

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', July 8, 2004. Accessed July 27, 2012. "Erinn had flourished in ballet, ice skating, tennis and track, and at age 11, she discovered she could combine her grace and athleticism in fencing. Six months later, her brother, scrawny and often the last picked for baseball teams, joined her." Smart graduated from

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of th ...

, as a chemistry major, in 1997. She attended

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, graduating in 2001 with a degree in economics. She fenced for the Columbia Lions fencing team. She was recognized as an NCAA

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n at Columbia. She worked for

Lord Abbett Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC is an independent, privately-held investment management company headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. The firm offers a variety of fixed−income and equity strategies to individual and institutional investors. Lord Ab ...

, a financial firm, following the 2004 Olympics. She earned an MBA from the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private Ivy League rese ...

in 2013.

Fencing career

Smart was the United States National Champion in 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2008, and was ranked 11th at the 2003 World Championships. Both Smarts won at the 2004 U.S. Fencing National Championships in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, with Erinn edging

Hanna Thompson Hanna Thompson (born November 1, 1983 in Rochester, New York) is an American foil fencer who was a member of the 2008 Olympics U.S. Women's foil team, which won the silver medal. A 2006 graduate of Ohio State University, Thompson was a four-t ...

13–11 in the semifinals, and then defeating three-time former Olympian

Ann Marsh Ann Marsh (born June 30, 1971) is an American fencer. She competed at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. She won a bronze medal in the team foil event at the 2001 World Fencing Championships. She fenced for the Columbia Lions fencing te ...

by 15–7 in the tournament final to take the title. Smart was selected as an alternate for the United States team at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, but did not participate in competition. She outpointed sisters

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

and Felicia Zimmerman to earn a spot on the United States team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Both Erinn and her brother Keeth were part of the United States team at the

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Susannah Cahalan Susannah Cahalan (born January 30, 1985) is an American journalist and author, known for writing the memoir ''Brain on Fire, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness'', about her hospitalization with a rare auto-immune disease, anti-NMDA receptor enceph ...

"OUR HOPE FOR GOLD: BIG APPLE'S BEST READY TO ROCK BEIJING"
''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', August 3, 2008. Accessed August 5, 2008. Both won silver medals in their team events.

References

External links

Athlete Profile: Erinn Smart

Smart Helps Americans to Surprise Silver
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Erinn 1980 births Living people American female foil fencers Barnard College alumni Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in fencing Sportspeople from Brooklyn Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Brooklyn Technical High School alumni Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Fencers at the 2003 Pan American Games Columbia Lions fencers Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games 21st-century American women

Early life and education

Fencing career

See also

References

External links