Gerek Lin Meinhardt (born July 27, 1990) is an American right-handed

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. Meinhardt is a two-time individual

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 ...

champion, 12-time team Pan American champion, three-time individual Pan American champion and 2019 team world champion. A four-time Olympian, Meinhardt is a two-time team Olympic bronze medalist. Meinhardt competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 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 The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, 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 ...

Biography

Meinhardt is one of two children born to Kurt and Jane Meinhardt. He attended

Lick-Wilmerding High School Lick-Wilmerding High School is a private college-preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California, United States. History Lick-Wilmerding High School was founded on September 21, 1874 as the California School of Mechanical Arts by a ...

in San Francisco for two years and completed high school in a home schooling program. He attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

on a full fencing scholarship. He majored in business and finance, and was a member of the school's fencing team from 2009 to 2014. Gerek was employed by Deloitte Advisory before enrolling at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

College of Medicine in 2020. He married fellow American fencer

Lee Kiefer Lee Kiefer (born June 15, 1994) is an American right-handed foil fencer. Kiefer is a four-time NCAA champion, ten-time team Pan American champion, nine-time individual Pan American champion, and 2018 team world champion. A three-time Olympia ...

in September 2019. Introduced to the sport at age 9 through a program run by Olympic fencer Greg Massialas, Meinhardt began participating in national fencing competitions a year later. At age 16 he became the youngest men's national foil champion when he won the tournament at the 2007 U.S. Fencing National Championships. By winning at the 2014 NCAA Fencing National Championships, he joined female fencer

and swimmer

Emma Reaney Emma Reaney (born October 20, 1992) is a former competition breaststroke and individual medley swimmer and current swim coach. She is an 8-time All-American (all in individual events) and 5-time All-American honorable mention (4 individual and ...

as part of the 2nd

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

trio to be named individual national champion in a single year and the 4th to be either individual national champion or national athlete of the year in a single year. Ranked 16th in the world at the time, he participated in 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 ...

as a member of the United States fencing team. He was the youngest fencer in Beijing and the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer of all time. At the

2010 World Fencing Championships The 2010 World Fencing Championships were held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France 4–13 November. Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations A record of 110 nations competed, with many making their debuts including ...

in Paris, he won a bronze medal in the men's foil event, tying with

Yuki Ota is a Japanese foil fencer, gold medallist at the 2006 Asian Games, silver medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympics, team silver medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and individual gold medallist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships. He is a m ...

of Japan. After his gold medal win at the 2012 U.S National Championships, he was selected as an alternate fencer for the

2012 London 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 ...

U.S men's foil team. For the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

he was selected as a member of the United States fencing team and won the bronze medal in the team foil competition. He again qualified for the United States in fencing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo where he won his second consecutive bronze medal in team foil. Meinhardt is a member of the FIE Hall of Fame.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Pan American Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

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Statistics
on Nahouw.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Meinhardt, Gerek 1990 births Living people Fencers from San Francisco American male foil fencers Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2011 Pan American Games Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencers American sportspeople of Taiwanese descent Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in fencing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Fencers at the 2019 Pan American Games World Fencing Championships medalists Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics University of Kentucky College of Medicine alumni