Kamali Thompson (born December 11, 1991) is an American fencer and doctor.

Early life

Thompson was born on December 11, 1991, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

but was raised in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

. Growing up in New Jersey, Thompson originally was a dancer and began

Teaneck High School Teaneck High School (known as The Castle on the Hill) is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Teaneck, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the ...

at the age of 12. While watching a

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

demonstration at the school, she was encouraged to learn the sport to gain a greater chance at a college scholarship. She subsequently began fencing during her freshman year and eventually joined the schools team as a junior. Prior to her junior year, Thompson entered a statewide fencing competition where she finished ninth. Following this, she was encouraged to join a fencing club in New York called the

Peter Westbrook Foundation Peter Jonathan Westbrook (April 16, 1952 – November 29, 2024) was an American saber fencer. He was a 13-time national and 3-time Pan American Games saber champion, five-time Olympian, and an Olympic bronze medalist. He founded the Peter West ...

. Throughout her high school career, Thompson helped the fencing team finish second in districts, second in the state, and win the Passaic League Championship. She also earned first-team all-county and third-team all-state honors. As she continued to fence, her younger brother Khalil also took up the sport so he would not have to sit on the sidelines during her practices. Following high school, Thompson enrolled in the

Pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students mostly in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med ...

degree as part of her biology program at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

. She continued to compete in fencing under head coach

Nikki Franke Nikki Franke (born March 31, 1951) is an American former fencer and fencing coach. She fenced for Brooklyn College, and was an All American. She competed in the women's individual and team foil events at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and fenced at ...

and was a two-time winner of Temple's PNC Female Student-Athlete of the Year. She also earned All-American Honors and was a four-time NCAA Qualifier. During her senior year, Thompson was named Philadelphia Inquirer Performer of the Year and nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year.

Career

Upon graduating from Temple University, Thompson enrolled at

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a medical school of Rutgers University. It is one of the two graduate medical schools of Rutgers Health, together with New Jersey Medical School, and is closely aligned with Robert Wood Johnson University ...

for the 2013 academic year. During her first year in medical school, she helped lead Team USA to a fourth-place finish in Women's Sabre at the 2013 World University Games. Throughout her medical school career, she also established a blog, Saber & A Stethoscope, to document her educational endeavors, travel, and fitness. In 2016, Thompson narrowly missed qualifying for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

by placing sixth overall. Following this, she won the Division 1 Women's Sabre National Championship title. In 2019, Thompson was ranked third overall as she helped Team USA win a bronze medal at the Salt Lake City North American Cup. As such, she was named an alternate for the national team. Thompson trained at the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Jamali 1991 births Living people American female sabre fencers Sportspeople from Teaneck, New Jersey Fencers from Los Angeles Teaneck High School alumni Temple University alumni Temple Owls fencers 21st-century American sportswomen