Kamara Latoya James (November 23, 1984 – September 20, 2014) was an American Olympic

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 ...

fencer. James was born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, into a single-parent household. Her family moved to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, when she was 10. She was given a full fencing scholarship to The Dwight School, an independent college preparatory school. She then attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

on a full academic scholarship. James began fencing at age 11, through the Peter Westbrook Foundation. In 2003, she won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the junior world championships. She competed in the women's individual

event at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. James died at age 29, in September 2014.

Early life

James was born in

, in 1984, into a single-parent household. Her parents separated before she was born; she met her father only once during her childhood. Her mother, Sandra Fernandez, remarried to Delano Fernandez when James was 7. The family moved to

, three years later. She attended Public School 3 in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. James' stepfather died of

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

two years later, in 1996. James was given a full fencing scholarship to The Dwight School, an independent college preparatory school located on

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

’s

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

, where annual tuition was $28,000. She scored a 1,510 on her

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

. She then attended

on a full academic scholarship, majoring in

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

Fencing career

James began fencing at age 11 during fifth grade, through the Peter Westbrook Foundation, which had been set up by American Olympic bronze medalist Peter Westbrook to offer fencing lessons to inner-city children in New York. Andrea Schwartz, one of her teachers at Public School 3, introduced her to Westbrook. From the age of 16, she was on the US Senior National Team in women's

. In 2003, she won a

at the junior world championships. She gained a world ranking of 50 in épée, which earned her a place on the Olympic team for the

in Athens.

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

provided her with $50,000 towards her Olympic expenses after she served an internship at the firm. She competed in the 2004 Olympics as a 19-year-old, the only American in the women's individual épée event. She was defeated 15–11 by 10th-seeded Russian Tatyana Logunova. She retired from competitive fencing after the Olympics.

Later life

James returned to Princeton after the Athens Olympics. James was diagnosed with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

in her senior year at Princeton, when she had a breakdown and was hospitalized for three months. She graduated in 2007 with a degree in religious studies. She then was admitted into Harvard, to study for a master's degree in

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including human migration, migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study ...

. She then participated in the opening of a fencing club in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

. However, subsequently she suffered a second breakdown. Due to her schizophrenia and various mental difficulties she spent much of her 20s in

halfway house A halfway house is a type of prison or institute intended to teach (or reteach) the necessary skills for people to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. Halfway houses are typically either state sponsored for those ...

s or on the streets and homeless."Kamara James,"
Olympics. In 2011, she moved to

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

. James died at age 29, and was found September 20, 2014, in her apartment in Modesto, California. Her death was reported by the U.S. Olympic team in mid-October 2014. Her cause of death was not disclosed. Friends and former teammates noted that she had a

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. Friends indicated she had recently begun a new drug regimen to manage her condition. Her death was attributed to her difficulties with her schizophrenia and other mental difficulties. She was buried in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York on October 25, 2014.

References

External links

*
"Kamara RIP; Kamara James (1984-2014)"
by Keeth Smart, published October 19, 2014 (video) {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Kamara 1984 births 2014 deaths American female épée fencers Dwight School alumni Olympic fencers for the United States Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Sportspeople from Queens, New York People from Jamaica, Queens People from Modesto, California Jamaican emigrants to the United States Princeton Tigers fencers 21st-century American sportswomen

Early life

Fencing career

Later life

See also

References

External links