Nzingha Prescod (born August 14, 1992) is an American

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, World Champion in foil at the 2008 and 2009 Cadet World Cups, bronze medalist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships, three-time medalist at the Pan American Games, and two-time Olympian."Nzingha Prescod,"
Team USA. She has ranked as high as world # 5. Prescod was selected as an athlete director on the USA Fencing Board of Directors beginning in January 2021.

Biography

Prescod is a daughter of Marva Prescod and Homer Richardson, was born in New York City, and was named after Nzingha Mbande (a 17th century queen in what is now

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, who fought against colonization by the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...

). Her mother is a Vincentian lawyer. Prescod graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 2010. She graduated from

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 ...

in 2015, majoring in Political Science, and fencing for the Columbia Lions fencing team. Fencing for Columbia, in 2010-11 she was named

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

Rookie of the Year, and First-Team All-Ivy League. She took the following year off to train for the Olympics. In 2012-13 she was again All-Ivy. In her Columbia career, she was 117-19 in foil bouts. She was World Champion in foil at the 2008 and 2009 Cadet World Cups. Prescod placed third in women’s foil at the 2011 Pan American Championships. In 2013, Prescod became the first US women’s foil fencer to win a Grand Prix title when she won the gold medal at the Marseilla Foil Grand Prix in France. She finished third in the Division I Women's Foil at the 2015 January NAC. Prescod competed in the individual women's foil event of the 2012 Summer Olympics, at 19 years of age, where Prescod was defeated 10-15 in the table of 32 by Hungary's Aida Mohamed. In the team event Team USA lost to South Korea in the quarter-finals, and finished 6th after the placement matches. She was a bronze medalist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships. Prescod fenced in the 2016 Rio Olympics at 23 years of age, and came in 11th. In 2016 Prescod was one of eight Olympians selected for a six-month internship with EY (the former Ernst & Young) through its Women Athletes Business Network. As of 2020, she was working in

data analytics Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics. It is used for the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data. It also entails applying data patterns toward effective decision-making. It ...

for EY. Prescod, suffering from

avascular necrosis Avascular necrosis (AVN), also called osteonecrosis or bone infarction, is death of bone tissue due to interruption of the blood supply. Early on, there may be no symptoms. Gradually joint pain may develop which may limit the ability to move. C ...

, trained and competed for a year in increasing pain. In January 2020, facing the necessity of

hip replacement Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. Such joint replacement o ...

surgery, Prescod announced her retirement from competition. Prescod was selected as an athlete director on the USA Fencing Board of Directors beginning on January 1, 2021, as the top vote-getter in a vote by athletes who represented the US at the Olympics or Paralympics, Pan American Games, or Senior World Championships. She said that in 2020 the organization's disciplinary decisions "reeked of lenience and favorability for the offender."

References

External links

* *
Profile
at US Fencing *Nzingha Prescod (July 10, 2020)
"An Open Letter To The USOPC & NGBs,"
Team USA. {{DEFAULTSORT:Prescod, Nzingha American female foil fencers 1992 births Living people Olympic fencers for the United States Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Columbia Lions fencers Columbia College (New York) alumni Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Sportspeople from Brooklyn Fencers at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century American women

Biography

See also

References

External links