Emily Ruth Cross (born October 15, 1986) is a U.S. foil fencer who was a member of the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

U.S. Women's foil team. She is best known for helping the team win the foil

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

for the U.S. at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, along with teammates Erinn Smart and Hanna Thompson. Born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, Cross attended the Brearley School in New York City. Cross' mother was a high-school placement counselor of Korean descent. Her father Fred Cross, a professor in cell genetics, introduced Emily and her brother to Sam to fencing first at Metropolis Fencing Club and then at the NY Fencers Club. Her coach is Michael Petin. She graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

(Bachelor of Arts in Biology) and the

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of M ...

, and is currently a

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

resident at

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children ...

. At Harvard she was Academic 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 ...

in 2004–05 and 2005–06. "Emily Cross"
/ref> She was also a co-recipient of the Radcliffe Prize as Harvard's top female athlete, and as its top female scholar-athlete she received the Harvard-Radcliffe Foundation for Women's Athletics Prize. In 2001, she won a bronze medal at the USA Fencing National Championships (Division I). She won a silver medal 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 ...

. In 2004, she won gold medals in both the U19 Foil and U19 Epee at the USA Fencing National Championships. In 2005, she won gold medals at the Junior World Championships,

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. ...

Championships (Individual; the first Harvard and fifth Ivy woman to win an NCAA fencing title), and USA Fencing National Championships (both Division I and U19). In 2006, she won gold medals at the NCAA Championships (Team) and the Junior World Championships (Team). In 2007, she won a bronze medal in the Pan American Championships. In 2008, in addition to her Olympic performance, she won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships.

Career

Cross competed in her first national tournament at age 11.

Miscellaneous

Cross has stated that her favorite person to fence is Italian foil superstar Giovanna Trillini.">"15 Questions With Emily R. Cross '08" , ''The Harvard Crimson''
/ref>

References

Cross Helps Americans to Surprise Silver
* 1986 births Living people Harvard Crimson fencers Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in fencing American female foil fencers Fencers from New York City Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Brearley School alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Harvard College alumni Fencers at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in fencing 21st-century American sportswomen American sportspeople of Korean descent {{US-fencing-bio-stub

Career

Miscellaneous

See also

References