Cliff Bayer (born June 24, 1977, in New York City) is an American two-time Olympian

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 ...

fencer.

Early and personal life

Bayer was born in New York City, and is Jewish.Philly Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Cliff Bayer
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College

In 1996, he was the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Foil Champion while at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, where he attended the

Wharton School of Business 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 Ivy League research university in ...

, fencing for the University of Pennsylvania Quakers fencing team. He also earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from Wharton.

US championships

Bayer won the 1995 U.S. National Championship while still a senior at

Riverdale Country School Riverdale Country School is a co-educational, independent, college-preparatory day school in New York City serving pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is located on two campuses covering more than in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Ne ...

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 ...

. He was, at age 17, the youngest person to win the national championship—an honor that he held until 2007, when Gerek Meinhardt won the championship at the age of 16. He also won the U.S. National Championship in 1997, 1998, and 2000.

Olympics

At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, Bayer placed 34th in the individual foil competition, and was a member of the U.S. foil team that finished 10th. Bayer was ranked No. 8 in the world in foil at the start of 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 ...

. He was eliminated from the competition in the third round, placing 10th. Bayer was named male Fencing Athlete of the Year by the 2000 U.S. Olympic Committee.

World Cup

Bayer was the first American to win a medal at a senior men's World Cup event, taking the bronze in Espinho, Portugal in May 1999. He was also the first American to win a World Cup title, winning the World Championship Cup

St. Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

that same year. At that competition, he routed 3-time world champion Sergei Golubitsky of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

15–6 in the quarterfinals before defeating 1995 world champion Dmitriy Shevchenko of Russia 10–5 in the final. Bayer won a second World Cup title in April 2000 in

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, where he defeated defending Olympic champion Puccini of Italy.

World Championships

Bayer's best showing at the

World Fencing 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 ...

was in 1999, when he placed 12th in the individual foil event.

Pan American Games

Bayer won a team silver medal at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

in Canada.

Hall of Fame and awards

In 1996, Bayer was named U.S. Fencer of the Year. He was named first team

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 in 1997 and 1998, and All-Ivy in 1998. Bayer was honored in 1999 as 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 ...

's Male Athlete of the Month for May, beating out canoe sprinter Nate Johnson, boxer Demetrius Hopkins, and cycler

Christian Vande Velde Christian Vande Velde (born May 22, 1976) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist of Belgian descent, who rode professionally between 1998 and 2013. Vande Velde competed for the , , and squads. He has been a cycling analyst for ...

. He was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

in 2001. He was also inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Bayer was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2013 and into the

Hall of Fame in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayer, Cliff 1977 births Living people American male foil fencers Penn Quakers fencers Jewish male foil fencers Jewish American sportspeople Olympic fencers of the United States Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in fencing Fencers at the 1999 Pan American Games 21st-century American Jews Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games