Janice-Lee York Romary (August 6, 1927 – May 31, 2007) was a U.S. women's

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

foil fencer who was the first woman to appear at six Olympic Games.

Early life

Born Janice-Lee York in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, she learned fencing at

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

's Dramatic Workshop in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, a club managed by her father. Romary attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

from 1946 to 1949, where she fenced at the University of Southern California Fencing Club.

Olympics and U.S. championships

She competed in women's individual

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 ...

at the 1948 London Olympics, the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, the

1956 Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the except ...

, the 1960 Rome Olympics, the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequ ...

and the 1968 Mexico City Olympics — the first woman to compete in six Olympics, a feat matched four years later by Romanian discus thrower

Lia Manoliu Lia Manoliu (; 25 April 1932 – 9 January 1998) was a Romanian discus thrower who won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. She was the first track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics (1952–1972). Early life; sports and educat ...

and finally surpassed in 1988 by fellow fencer, Sweden's

Kerstin Palm Kerstin Palm (born 5 February 1946) is a Swedish foil fencer. She competed in seven Summer Olympics, which is a record for a female fencer, with the best result of fifth in the individual foil event in 1968. She was named Sportswoman of the Year ...

. In recognition of her extraordinary streak of Olympic appearances, Romary was honored at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 by being the first woman to carry the flag for the United States. Though she never medaled at the Olympics, she was a finalist in women's individual foil in 1952 and 1956, finishing fourth both times: in 1952, she tied for third place, but lost to Denmark's Karen Lachmann on touches. In addition to her Olympic success, Romary won the U.S. foil championship in 1950, 1951,1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1967, and 1968, missing the 1959 championships due to pregnancy. Her 10 U.S. championships is more than any other male or female fencer. She won the 1967 Worldwide Sportsman's Award, and in August 1968, became the only fencer to ever win the

Helms Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

Athlete of the Month Award. She also won a silver and a bronze medal 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 ...

in 1963, and a gold in 1967. Romary's husband, Charles Romary, was also an

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

and

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

fencer, sports that did not exist at the Olympic level for women until the

1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He took up the sport after marrying Janice in 1953.

Post-competition career

Romary's association with the Olympics and the sport of fencing continued well beyond her Olympic competition. She was women's administrator for the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

for the

1976 Montreal Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal w ...

and was responsible for all U.S. women competitors. At the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, she was commissioner of fencing. Romary was inducted into the

United States Fencing Association The United States Fencing Association (USFA) is the national governing body for the sport of fencing in the United States. The USFA was founded in 1891 as the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) by a group of New York fencers seeking indepe ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

in the 1970s. After retiring from fencing, she moved to

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city ...

, with her husband, where they ran a water purification business. She died in Klamath Falls on May 31, 2007, of complications from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

References

Olympic record at Sports-Reference.Com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romary, Janice 1927 births 2007 deaths American female foil fencers Fencers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for the United States People from Klamath Falls, Oregon Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California USC Trojans fencers Fencers at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in fencing Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in fencing 20th-century American sportswomen

Early life

Olympics and U.S. championships

Post-competition career

See also

References