Gerek Lin Meinhardt (born July 27, 1990) is an American right-handed foil fencer. Meinhardt is a two-time individual

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

champion, 12-time team Pan American champion, three-time individual Pan American champion and 2019 team world champion. A four-time

Olympian Olympian or Olympians may refer to: Religion * Twelve Olympians, the principal gods and goddesses in ancient Greek religion * Olympian spirits, spirits mentioned in books of ceremonial magic Fiction * ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'', fiction ...

, Meinhardt is a two-time team Olympic bronze medalist. Meinhardt competed in the

2008 Beijing Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

, the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Biography

Meinhardt is one of two children born to Kurt and Jane Meinhardt. He attended Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco for two years and completed high school in a home schooling program. He attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

on a full fencing scholarship. He majored in business and finance, and was a member of the school's fencing team from 2009 to 2014. Gerek was employed by Deloitte Advisory before enrolling at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state's ...

College of Medicine in 2020. He married fellow American fencer

Lee Kiefer Lee Kiefer (born June 15, 1994) is an American right-handed foil fencer. Kiefer is a four-time NCAA champion, ten-time team Pan American champion, nine-time individual Pan American champion, and 2018 team world champion. A three-time Olympi ...

in September 2019. Introduced to the sport at age 9 through a program run by Olympic fencer

Greg Massialas Gregory David Massialas (born May 20, 1956) is an American foil fencer and fencing coach. Career A reserve for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, he was set to make his Olympic début at the Moscow Games in 1980, but was prevented from do ...

, Meinhardt began participating in national fencing competitions a year later. At age 16 he became the youngest men's national foil champion when he won the tournament at the 2007 U.S. Fencing National Championships. By winning at the 2014 NCAA Fencing National Championships, he joined female fencer

and swimmer Emma Reaney as part of the 2nd

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

trio to be named individual national champion in a single year and the 4th to be either individual national champion or national athlete of the year in a single year. Ranked 16th in the world at the time, he participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

as a member of the United States fencing team. He was the youngest fencer in Beijing and the youngest U.S. Olympic fencer of all time. At the 2010 World Fencing Championships in Paris, he won a bronze medal in the men's foil event, tying with Yuki Ota of Japan. After his gold medal win at the 2012 U.S National Championships, he was selected as an alternate fencer for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

U.S men's foil team. For the 2016 Rio Olympics he was selected as a member of the United States fencing team and won the bronze medal in the team foil competition. He again qualified for the United States in fencing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo where he won his second consecutive bronze medal in team foil. Meinhardt is a member of the FIE Hall of Fame.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Pan American Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

* *
Statistics
on Nahouw.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Meinhardt, Gerek 1990 births Living people Fencers from San Francisco American male foil fencers Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2011 Pan American Games Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencers American sportspeople of Taiwanese descent Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in fencing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Fencers at the 2019 Pan American Games World Fencing Championships medalists Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics University of Kentucky College of Medicine alumni