Daniel Kellner (born April 16, 1976) is an American Olympic

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 ma ...

fencer. He has won gold and silver medals at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, and a gold medal at the

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

Early life

Kellner was born in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 31,330, its highest United States census, decennial co ...

, and is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. Kellner attended the

Pingry School The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, a Middle (6–8) and Upper School (9–12) campus in ...

, graduating in 1994.

Fencing career

College

Fencing foil for the Columbia Lions fencing team, as he attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

from which he graduated in 1998 with a degree in American history, Kellner was a 4-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and 3-time All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

First Team Selection (1995-97-98). He was the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Fencer of the Year in 1998.

Quitting and comeback

After failing to make the 2000 Olympic team, Kellner retired from fencing. He returned to fencing three years later and won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

, and his first national foil championship in 2004.

US Nationals

Kellner was formerly ranked No. 1 in men's foil in the U.S. He won the foil competition at the U.S. fencing national championships in 2004. Kellner rallied from a 0–6 and 1–7 deficit in his semifinal against Jed Dupree, countered with 7 straight touches, edging ahead to 8–7. The bout went to 14–14 before Kellner won it. In the championship bout, Kellner beat

Jonathan Tiomkin Jonathan Tiomkin (known as "Jon"; born July 12, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American Olympic foil fencer. Fencing career High school Tiomkin began fencing when he was a freshman at Hewlett High School in Hewlett, New York. NCAA Cham ...

15–6. He finished 2nd in 1997, 1998, and 2000.

World Cups

He had podium finishes in World Cups for several seasons in a row.

Olympics

In the Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

he came in 16th in foil, and the U.S. team came in 4th, the highest finish in fifty-six years. Kellner, seeded 26th, won his first bout, upsetting # 7 seed

Cedric Gohy Cedric () is a given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''. Etymology The invented name is based on ''Cerdic'', the name of a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon king (itself from Brittonic '' Coroticus''). Popularity The name was ...

of Belgium, 15–12. His next bout, in the round of 16, was against

Richard Kruse Richard Kruse (born 30 July 1983) is a former British right-handed foil fencer and four-time Olympian. In 2015, he was part of the Great Britain team that shocked Olympic champions Italy to win the first European Games gold in team foil, the fi ...

of Great Britain. In a very close match, in which he had been leading 14–12, Kellner lost 15–14.

Maccabiah Games

Kellner decided to skip the 2005 World Cup in Vancouver and the US nationals so he could compete in the

2005 Maccabiah Games The 17th Maccabiah Games (), held in Israel, were an incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games, including more than 900 representatives from the United States, almost 500 from Australia, and ...

in Israel. His international ranking slipped from No. 11 to 12 as a result. He led the U.S. delegation's march into the

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

stadium alongside legendary swimmers

Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the Lists of Olympic medalists#Medalist with most medals by Olympiad, most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympi ...

and

Lenny Krayzelburg Lenny Krayzelburg (born Leonid Olehovych Krayzelburg, September 28, 1975) is an American former backstroke swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record holder. He swam in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, winning a total of four Olympic g ...

. Kellner won the silver medal at the 2005 Maccabiah Games, losing to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Tomer Or Tomer Or (; born September 26, 1978) is an Israeli foil fencer. Early life Or is Jewish, and was born in Haifa, Israel. He earned an LL.B. in Law and Business from the Interdisciplinary Center, in Herzliya, Israel. Fencing career Or began f ...

15–9.

Pan American Games

Kellner won a team silver medal at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games () or the 13th Pan American Games and commonly known as Winnipeg 1999, were a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Ma ...

in Canada. He also won gold medals, both team and individual, at the

. The team trailed 40–30 entering the last match, which Kellner won 15–4, setting off a celebration. Teammate Jon Tiomkin said: “There are no words to describe it. No words at all. That was absolutely incredible. I've never seen a comeback like that in my life at such a high level competition and with such high stakes.”

US Team Captain

He was the captain of the U.S. men's foil National Team squad. He is a 7-time

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

team member.

Ranking

Dan finished his competitive career ranked 1st in the U.S., 1st in the hemisphere, and 10th in the world, at the time only the second U.S. Men’s Foil Fencer ever to be ranked in the FIE Top-16.

Coaching Career

Dan is the owner and Head Coach of th
Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club
Prior to opening BBFC in 2010, he was also an assistant coach to Simon Gershon, then the U.S. Men’s Foil National Coach. Dan’s students have won numerous national and international medals, including a Bronze Medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, a Silver Medal at the 2019 World Championships, a Junior World Championship Gold Medal, a Cadet World Championship Gold Medal, as well as other Junior World Cup, Senior World Cup and Grand Prix medals. In 2015, Dan became the first American coach to have a Men’s Foil Fencer win the Overall World Cup, finishing the season #1 in the world. In 2016, Dan was awarde
The Order of Ikkos by the United States Olympic Committee
for excellence in coaching and recognizing his contribution to the US Men’s Foil Team winning the Bronze Medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. In 2018, Dan was inducted into th
U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame
In 2020, Dan became the first American coach to qualify a European Men’s Foil Fencer to the Olympic Games via the individual route and was awarded 2020 Performance Coach of the Year by British Fencing In 2021, Dan wa
Team GB Olympic Team Fencing Coach
for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

References

External links

US Olympic bioJews in Sports bioBrooklyn Bridge Fencing Club Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellner, Dan American male foil fencers Jewish foil fencers 1976 births Living people Columbia Lions fencers Columbia College (New York) alumni Olympic fencers for the United States Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers from New Jersey Sportspeople from Livingston, New Jersey Pingry School alumni Competitors at the 2005 Maccabiah Games Maccabiah Games medalists in fencing Maccabiah Games silver medalists for the United States Fencers at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in fencing Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in fencing 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American sportsmen Left-handed fencers