Nick Itkin

Nick Itkin
Born (1999-10-09) October 9, 1999 (age 24)
Los Angeles, California, United States
NationalityAmerican
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm) [1]
Weight157 lb (71 kg) [1]
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportFencing
WeaponFoil
Handright-handed
ClubLos Angeles International Fencing Center[2]
Head coachMichael Itkin
FIE rankingcurrent ranking
Medal record
Men's foil
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Team
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Cairo Team
Silver medal – second place 2023 Milan Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Cairo Individual
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Individual
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Team
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Toronto Team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Asunción Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Lima Team
Silver medal – second place 2023 Lima Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Asunción Individual
US National Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Salt Lake City Individual
Gold medal – first place 2018 Philadelphia Individual
Gold medal – first place 2021 St. Louis Individual
Gold medal – first place 2022 Charlotte Individual
Gold medal – first place 2023 St. Louis Individual
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Plovdiv Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Verona Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Verona Team

Nick Itkin (born October 9, 1999) is an American right-handed foil fencer. Itkin is a two-time individual NCAA champion, 2023 Individual Pan American Games Gold medalist, two-time individual World Championship medalist , and 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist.[3] Itkin took foil silver at the world fencing championships to become the first U.S. man, and third U.S. fencer overall, to win an individual medal at back-to-back worlds.[4]

Early life[edit]

Itkin was born in Los Angeles, California, and is Jewish.[5] His parents are Michael ("Misha"; a fencing coach) and Tatiana (a former rhythmic gymnast, and current coach).[6][7][8] His older sister Julia competed in rhythmic gymnastics for the US national team.[8] He attended Palisades High School, graduating in 2017.[8]

Fencing career[edit]

2015–19; Junior World Champion[edit]

Itkin trains under his father at Los Angeles International Fencing Center, which his father founded in 2003.[7] In 2015, he was a Cadet Junior Olympics bronze medalist, and in 2016 he was a Cadet Pan American Championships gold medalist.[9] In 2017 he was a Junior Pan American Championships silver medalist.[9]

At the 2018 Junior World Fencing Championships in Verona, Italy, Itkin won the gold medal in foil.[10] He defeated future world silver medalist Tommaso Marini of Italy in the final.[11] He also won a team bronze medal at the championships.[1] When he then also won consecutive NCAA Fencing Championships in foil, in 2018 and 2019 as he fenced for the University of Notre Dame where he studied political science, he decided to pursue fencing at the senior level.[9][12][13] In 2018 he became the first American fencer to win gold medals at all three of the NCAA Fencing Championships, the US National Fencing championships, and the Junior World Fencing Championship in the same year.[14][15] In 2019 he also won a team gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Fencing Championships in Toronto, Canada.[16]

2020–present; Olympic bronze medalist, World Championship silver and bronze medalist[edit]

Itkin won the gold medal at a 2020 World Cup in Paris, becoming the youngest top-10 foil fencer in the world.[7] Among other victories, in the competition he defeated the reigning world champion and world # 3 Enzo Lefort of France, and the reigning Olympic champion Daniele Garozzo of Italy.[17]

In 2021, Itkin won the US National Championship in foil, in Philadelphia.[7]

At the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, at 21 years of age, Itkin won a bronze medal with Team USA in the men's team foil competition.[18][6] He came in 12th in the individual men's foil competition at the Olympics.[1] At the 2022 Pan American Fencing Championships in Asunción, Paraguay, he won a team gold medal, and an individual bronze medal.[19]

Itkin, the 23-year-old fencing phenom and Notre Dame graduate who trains at the renowned Los Angeles International Fencing Center won a silver medal in Men’s Foil on Thursday, the sixth day of the 2023 Fencing World Championships in Italy.

With the medal, Itkin has now won three Senior Worlds medals in the past two years: individual bronze and team silver in 2022 and now individual silver in 2023.[20]

Itkin won an individual bronze medal in men's foil at the 2022 World Fencing Championships in Cairo, Egypt.[15] In the competition, he defeated among others world # 6 Takahiro Shikine of Japan and former world champion and current world # 3 Alessio Foconi of Italy, before losing to the reigning world champion Enzo Lefort of France by a score of 15–14.[15]

5x National Champion[edit]

In Division I Men’s Foil, Itkin took the win — again. He has won five of the last six national championships in his weapon (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023), but this one proved especially difficult because he was coming off an injury that had sidelined him for about five weeks. With five Division I national championships to his name, Itkin is now fourth on the all-time list of men’s foil fencers with the most national indoor titles.[21]

Medal record[edit]

Olympic Games[edit]

Year Location Event Position
2021 Japan Tokyo, Japan Team Men's Foil 3rd[22]

World Championship[edit]

Year Location Event Position
2023 Milan, Italy Individual Men's Foil 2nd[4]
2022 Egypt Cairo, Egypt Individual Men's Foil 3rd[23]
2022 Egypt Cairo, Egypt Team Men's Foil 2nd[24]

Pan American Championship[edit]

Year Location Event Position
2023 Lima, Peru Team Men's Foil 1st[25]
2023 Lima, Peru Individual Men's foil 2nd[26]
2022 Paraguay Asunción, Paraguay Individual Men's Foil 3rd[27]
2022 Paraguay Asunción, Paraguay Team Men's Foil 1st[28]

Grand Prix[edit]

Date Location Event Position
2019-05-17 China Shanghai, China Individual Men's Foil 2nd[29]

World Cup[edit]

Date Location Event Position
2018-11-09 Germany Bonn, Germany Individual Men's Foil 3rd[30]
2020-01-10 France Paris, France Individual Men's Foil 1st[31]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Nick Itkin; Foil Fencing," Team USA.
  2. ^ "Nick Itkin". The International Fencing Federation.
  3. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Nick Itkin keeps climbing with another fencing worlds medal". NBC Sports. July 27, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  5. ^ Harrison, Donald H. (August 11, 2021). "Jewish Athletes Made Their Marks at Olympics".
  6. ^ a b Faygie Holt (August 11, 2021). "Jewish Athletes Made Their Marks at Olympics". San Diego Jewish World.
  7. ^ a b c d David Wharton (July 18, 2021). "SoCal phenom Nick Itkin could help Americans win first Olympic team fencing title". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ a b c Sue Pascoe (July 22, 2021). "PaliHi Grad Nick Itkin, a Fencer, Will Compete in the Olympics". Circling the News.
  9. ^ a b c "Nick Itkin". Notre Dame Fighting Irish. July 9, 2018.
  10. ^ Bloom, Nate (August 16, 2021). "A fairly comprehensive list of Diaspora Jews at the Tokyo Olympics". The Jewish Standard/Times of Israel.
  11. ^ Henneman, Kristen (April 7, 2018). "Nick Itkin Wins Junior World Championships, Team USA Claims Three Foil Medals". USA Fencing.
  12. ^ David Wharton (July 18, 2021). "SoCal phenom Nick Itkin could help Americans win first Olympic team fencing title". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  13. ^ Bloom, Nate (August 3, 2021). "Meet the Olympic Members of the Tribe". Detroit Jewish News.
  14. ^ Igor Chirashnya (August 2, 2020). "2020 Olympic Talk with Top Ranked Foilist Nick Itkin". Academy of Fencing Masters Blog.
  15. ^ a b c Ethan Olson (July 20, 2022). "Foil Fencer Nick Itkin Wins First World Championships Medal In Cairo," Team USA.
  16. ^ Perelman, Rich (July 7, 2019). "Fencing: U.S. finishes with five of six team titles in Pan American Championships". The Sports Examiner.
  17. ^ Henneman, Kristen (January 15, 2020). "Nick Itkin, Team USA Sweep the Golds at the Paris World Cup". USA Fencing.
  18. ^ "Nick Itkin joins U.S. foil fencing greats to win world championships medal". NBC Sports. July 20, 2022.
  19. ^ Wendell, Bryan (June 9, 2022). "Team USA Finishes Atop Medal Table With Seven Golds at 2022 Pan American Senior Championships in Paraguay". USA Fencing.
  20. ^ Wendell, Bryan (July 27, 2023). "2023 Worlds Recap, Day 6: Nick Itkin Wins Individual Silver in Men's Foil, His Third Worlds Medal in the Past Two Years". USA Fencing. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  21. ^ Wendell, Bryan (April 22, 2023). "April 2023 NAC, Day 2: Columbia's Nora Burke Follows NCAA Title With National Championship". USA Fencing. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  22. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  23. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federatio. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  24. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  25. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  26. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  27. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  28. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  29. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  30. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  31. ^ "The International Fencing Federation". The International Fencing Federation. Retrieved September 14, 2021.

External links[edit]

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