Mariel Zagunis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mariel Zagunis |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Script error: The function "getImageLegend" does not exist.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Mariel Leigh Zagunis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 3, 1985 Portland, Oregon, United States |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Fencing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weapon | Sabre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hand | Left | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2000–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Oregon Fencing Alliance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Ed Korfanty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIE ranking | Current ranking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mariel Leigh Zagunis (born March 3, 1985) is an American fencer who uses a sabre. She is famous for winning two Olympic gold medals in individual sabre fencing. She won these in 2004 and 2008.
Mariel was the first American woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal in fencing. This happened in 2004. She was also chosen to carry the American flag for Team USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. Mariel has won two Olympic bronze medals with her team (in 2008 and 2016). She has competed in the Olympics five times (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020).
Contents
About Mariel Zagunis
Mariel's parents, Robert and Cathy Zagunis, were also athletes. They both rowed in college at Oregon State University and Connecticut College. Her parents even competed for the U.S. rowing team in the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Mariel has two brothers, Marten and Merrick, who also fence with a sabre. She grew up in Oregon and went to Valley Catholic School from kindergarten through high school. Later, she studied anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. Mariel was raised in the Catholic faith and has Lithuanian family roots.
Early Fencing Success
Mariel Zagunis was the first American fencer to win the Jr. World Cup Champion title. She won this title three years in a row (2002, 2003, 2004). She was also the youngest fencer ever to win a gold medal at the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) World Championship. The FIE is the main international group for fencing.
Mariel also won three FIE medals in one season, being the youngest to do so. She won the FIE overall medal three years in a row. In 2001, she was the first fencer in history to win more than two World Champion titles in one season. These titles were Cadet, Jr., and Jr. Team. In 2004, she started college at the University of Notre Dame with a sports scholarship.
In 2005, Mariel won her seventh World Champion title in Germany. This was for the women's team event. A year later, in 2006, she won a silver medal at the World Championships. She was the second U.S. fencer to win the World Cup total-points title from the FIE.
In 2009, Mariel won the last individual World title she hadn't yet won. She won the World Championships in Turkey, beating Olga Kharlan from Ukraine. She won the individual sabre title again the next year in 2010.
Olympic Games Highlights
2004 Athens Olympics
The women's Sabre event was new to the 2004 Summer Olympics. Mariel Zagunis did not originally qualify for the event. However, another country decided not to send their fencer. Because Mariel was the next highest-ranked fencer, she was chosen to represent the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
She started in the Round of 16, where she beat a fencer from Japan. Then she won against a fencer from Azerbaijan in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she beat a fencer from Romania, which meant she would win at least a silver medal.
In the final match, Mariel faced Xue Tan from China. Mariel won, becoming the first American to win an Olympic fencing gold medal in 100 years! Before her, the only American Olympic fencing gold medalist was Albertson Van Zo Post in 1904. Her win was a big surprise because another American fencer, Sada Jacobson, was ranked #1 in the world and was expected to win.
2008 Beijing Olympics
Mariel Zagunis went into the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sixth-ranked fencer. She won her first match against Sandra Sassine. Then she beat Bogna Jozwiak and Bao Yingying to reach the semifinals.
In the semifinals, she fenced against her training partner, Rebecca Ward. Mariel won that match. For the gold medal, Mariel faced Sada Jacobson, another top fencer. Mariel won the gold medal again! With Rebecca Ward winning the bronze, American fencers won all three medals in the individual event for the first time ever.
In the women's sabre team event, the U.S. team was expected to win gold. Mariel, Sada Jacobson, and Rebecca Ward easily beat South Africa. However, they lost to Ukraine in the semifinals. This meant they would fence for the bronze medal instead of gold. The U.S. team then beat France to win the bronze medal.
2012 London Olympics
On July 25, 2012, Mariel Zagunis was chosen by Team USA to be the flag bearer for the Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. This is a great honor for an athlete.
However, Mariel did not win a medal at these games. She lost to Kim Ji-yeon from South Korea. Then she lost to Olga Kharlan from Ukraine in the bronze medal match.
2020 Tokyo Olympics (in 2021)
Mariel was one of three female sabre fencers to represent the United States in fencing at the 2020 Olympics, which happened in 2021. She was ranked tenth going into the games.
She won her first two matches against Gabriella Page from Canada and Ji-yeon Kim from Korea. In her quarterfinal match, she lost to Sofya Velikaya from the Russian Olympic Committee.
Outside the Fencing Arena
On March 3, 2017, Mariel Zagunis was one of 16 famous people to be on a cooking show called Chopped on the Food Network. She was on an episode called "Star Power: Culinary Muscle." Other athletes on the show included a former NFL player, a figure skater, and a UFC fighter. Mariel was the second person to be eliminated from her group in the competition.
See also
- List of USFA Division I National Champions
- List of NCAA fencing champions
