Keeth Thomas Smart
''The New York Times'', 27 May 2007. (born July 29, 1978) is an American

saber 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, who was the first American to gain the sport's top ranking for males in saber. A three-time Olympian, he won a

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, ...

at the

2008 Olympic Games 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 ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in team sabre.

Early life and education

Smart was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and grew up in

Flatbush Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...

, Brooklyn, New York City.Olivesi, Marine
"'Three Musketeers' from Flatbush say goodbye to high-level fencing"
''The Columbia Journalist'', 14 September 2008. His parents were Thomas R. Smart Jr. (a production manager and later an economist) and Liz Smart (a teacher who had come to the United States from Jamaica). At the urging of his parents, he and his younger sister Erinn began to learn fencing at 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 ...

, whose founder,

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 ...

sabre bronze-medalist

Peter Westbrook 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 ...

, was his mentor. Smart graduated from

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is a public specialized high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is on ...

in 1996.Profile
at US Fencing He graduated from St. John's University in New York City in 2001, majoring in finance. He later received his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 2010, and now works as a Senior Vice President fo
Chelsea Piers Fitness
which he had joined in 2017.

Fencing career

Smart's fencing coach was

Yury Gelman Yury Gelman (born October 13, 1955) is a Ukrainian-born American fencing coach. He is seven-time Olympic Games, Olympic fencing coach for the United States, who has coached Team USA in the 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 201 ...

. During college, Smart was the

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. ...

sabre champion in 1997 and 1999, and took second place in 2001. He was a member of the 1999

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 ...

bronze medal team. Smart competed in three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

in men's saber. He placed 30th in the individual competition in the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. He then placed 15th in the individual competition and 4th in the team competition at the

2004 Olympic Games 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 ...

. He placed 6th in the individual competition at the

, defeating eventual three-time individual Olympic champion

Áron Szilágyi Áron Szilágyi (; born 14 January 1990) is a Hungarian right-handed sabre fencer. A five-time Olympian, Szilágyi is a three-time individual Olympic champion, 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist, and 2024 team Olympic silver medalist. Szilág ...

along the way, and won a

in the 2008 team event. In the saber team semi-finals the United States had been losing to Russia 40–35, before Smart outscored Russian Stanislav Pozdnyakov 10–4 for the win, with Team USA beating the Russians 45–44, allowing the Americans to go on to win the silver medal. It was the first Olympic medal for the US men's saber team since 1948. His sister Erinn also earned a silver medal as part of the US women's foil team at the 2008 Olympics. In 2002 and 2004, Smart won the US national sabre championship. In 2003, he became the first American to be named the top-ranked fencer internationally.

Personal life

Keeth married Shyra (Cooper) Smart on May 27, 2007 in Chapel Hill,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. They live in Brooklyn, New York, with their two children. Keeth and his sister Erinn are actively involved in the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Keeth 1978 births Living people African-American sportsmen American male sabre fencers American sportspeople of Jamaican descent Columbia Business School alumni Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in fencing Fencers from New York City Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Brooklyn Technical High School alumni Fencers at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in fencing St. John's Red Storm fencers St. John's University (New York City) alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen

Early life and education

Fencing career

Personal life

See also

References