Monica Aksamit facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Monica Aksamit |
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Aksamit in 2015
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 18, 1990 New York City, New York |
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| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 77 kg (170 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States |
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| Sport | Fencing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weapon | saber | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hand | right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Manhattan Fencing Center | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Yury Gelman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIE ranking | current ranking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Monica Aksamit (born February 18, 1990) is an American Olympic saber fencer. She is best known for winning a bronze medal with the U.S. team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Aksamit also won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2019 Pan American Games. Besides her sports career, she appeared on the reality television show Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer in 2022.
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Early Life and Education
Monica Aksamit was born in New York City. Her parents moved to the United States from Poland. When she was young, her parents divorced, and she was raised by her mother.
Aksamit spent some of her early years in Poland living with her grandparents. She returned to the U.S. for kindergarten and grew up in New Jersey, where she attended Matawan Regional High School.
After high school, she went to Pennsylvania State University on a full fencing scholarship. She studied kinesiology, which is the science of human body movement. She later returned to finish her degree and has taught fencing at schools in New Jersey.
Fencing Career
How It All Started
Aksamit began fencing at the age of nine at the Polish-American Fencing School in New Jersey. She once described her first experience with the sport:
"They handed me a sword. They said, 'Hit the other kid'. I did. Everybody clapped and cheered. I was like, 'I don't understand what's going on. But, okay. This seems like a great time.'"
Since she was 15, she has trained at the Manhattan Fencing Center with her coach, Yury Gelman.
College and Early Success
While fencing for Pennsylvania State University, Aksamit helped her team win two NCAA Team Championships. In 2012, she was the runner-up for the NCAA individual saber championship. She was also named an All-American athlete three times.
International Competitions
Aksamit began competing for the United States around the world. In 2008, at age 18, she won a team silver medal at the Junior World Fencing Championships in Italy.
- 2009: She won a team gold medal and an individual bronze medal at the Pan American Fencing Championships.
- 2016: She helped Team USA win another team gold medal at the Pan American Fencing Championships.
Olympic Glory
Aksamit's biggest achievement came at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won a bronze medal as part of the Women's Saber Team. She even competed with a fractured vertebra in her back, showing incredible toughness.
She was subbed into the final match against Italy and helped her team secure the win.
Continued Success and Challenges
After the Olympics, Aksamit continued to compete.
- 2017: She won a silver medal with Team USA at the Pan American Fencing Championships.
- 2019: She won a gold medal with her team at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
Training for the Olympics is very expensive. To pay for her training and travel, Aksamit worked several jobs. She also started a GoFundMe page, where people donated money to support her dream. She narrowly missed qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Life Outside of Fencing
In 2022, Aksamit appeared on the TV show Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer. It was a dating show where 18 women tried to find love with two men.
She decided to go on the show because she felt that finding love in the real world was difficult. As of 2022, she was also a model with Ford Models and had a large following on Instagram.
See also
In Spanish: Monica Aksamit para niños
- List of Olympic women medalists in fencing
- List of Pennsylvania State University Olympians
