Janice-Lee York Romary (August 6, 1927 – May 31, 2007) was a U.S. women's

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

foilist Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

who was the first woman to appear at six Olympic Games.

Early life

Born Janice-Lee York in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

, she learned fencing at

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pro ...

's Dramatic Workshop in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, a club managed by her father. Romary attended the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

from 1946–1949, where she fenced at the University of Southern California Fencing Club.

Olympics and U.S. championships

She competed in women's individual

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 ...

at the

1948 London Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

, the

1952 Helsinki Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the

1960 Rome Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

, the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1968 Mexico City Olympics — the first woman to compete in six Olympics, a feat matched four years later by Romanian discus thrower

Lia Manoliu Lia Manoliu (; 25 April 1932 – 9 January 1998) was a Romanian discus thrower who won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. She was the first track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics (1952–1972). Early life; sports and educat ...

and finally surpassed in 1988 by fellow fencer, Sweden's

Kerstin Palm Kerstin Palm (born 5 February 1946) is a Swedish fencer. She competed in seven Summer Olympics, which is a record for a female fencer, with the best result of fifth in the individual foil event in 1968. She was named Sportswoman of the Year in Sw ...

. In recognition of her extraordinary streak of Olympic appearances, Romary was honored at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 by being the first woman to carry the flag for the United States. Though she never medaled at the Olympics, she was a finalist in women's individual foil in 1952 and 1956, finishing fourth both times: in 1952, she tied for third place, but lost to Denmark's

Karen Lachmann Karen Vilhelmine Lachmann (30 May 1916 – 30 September 1962) was a Danish fencer. She won a silver medal in the women's individual foil event at the 1948 Summer Olympics and a bronze in the same event at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Life La ...

on touches. In addition to her Olympic success, Romary won the U.S. foil championship in 1950, 1951,1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1968, missing the 1959 championships due to pregnancy. Her 10 U.S. championships is more than any other male or female fencer. She won the 1967 World Wide Sportsman's Award, and in August 1968, became the only fencer to ever win the Helms Foundation Athlete of the Month Award. She also won a silver and a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in 1963, and a gold in 1967. Romary's husband, Charles Romary, was also an

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 ...

and

sabre 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 th ...

fencer, sports that did not exist at the Olympic level for women until the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He took up the sport after marrying Janice in 1953.

Post-competition career

Romary's association with the Olympics and the sport of fencing continued well beyond her Olympic competition. She was women's administrator for the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

for the 1976 Montreal Olympics and was responsible for all U.S. women competitors. At the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, she was commissioner of fencing. Romary was inducted into the

United States Fencing Association The United States Fencing Association (USFA) is the national governing body for the sport of fencing in the United States. The USFA was founded on April 22, 1891, as the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) by a group of 20 New York City fen ...

Hall of Fame in the 1970s. After retiring from fencing, she moved to

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...

with her husband, where they ran a water purification business. She died in Klamath Falls on May 31, 2007 of complications from Alzheimer's disease.

References

Olympic record at Sports-Reference.Com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romary, Janice 1927 births 2007 deaths American female foil fencers Fencers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers of the United States People from Klamath Falls, Oregon Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California USC Trojans fencers Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Fencers at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women

Early life

Olympics and U.S. championships

Post-competition career

See also

References