Tamir Bloom (born December 24, 1971) is an American epee fencer.

Personal life

Bloom was born in New York City, and is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He is a cousin of Israeli Olympian judoka

Gil Ofer Gil Ofer (also spelled Gil Offer,https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4061659317216801&id=463230570393045 ; born 15 July 1976) is an Israeli former Olympic judoka and coach. Personal life He is a cousin of American Olympian fencer ...

. Bloom has both U.S. and Israeli citizenship. He attended

Millburn High School Millburn High School is a four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Millburn (including its Short Hills neighborhood), in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondar ...

. Bloom's father is artist Murray Bloom.

Fencing career

Bloom fenced for the University of Pennsylvania Quakers fencing team.

Olympics

At the 1996

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Olympic Games, Bloom placed 31st in individual epee. He was a member of the U.S. épée team that finished 8th. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Italy, 45–44. He tore the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in his right knee in 1999, a few weeks before the

World Fencing Championships The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the International Fencing Federation. Contestants may participate in Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre events. History The FIE first organiz ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. He flew to Seoul with the intention of competing and possibly qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, but once there he was not allowed to compete because of his injury by 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 ...

(USFA) Team manager. As it was too late to arrange for an alternate, team coach

Michael Marx Michael Marx (born July 7, 1958) is an American foil and epee fencer and fencing master. He is the brother of Robert Marx, who has also represented the U.S. in multiple Olympic fencing events. Michael and his brother were taught to fence by ...

took his spot. The team finished 15th, which was not good enough to qualify for the team épée event at the

2000 Summer Olympics 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 ...

. Following the World Championships, the USFA attempted to prevent him from qualifying for the 2000 Olympics by threatening to withhold athlete funding which he had previously been granted. Despite this, Bloom went on to earn enough World Cup qualification to become the nation's number one ranked epee fencer. He then went on to win the Olympic Zonal Qualifier in Buenos Aires on an individual basis with an ACL-deficient knee, and thus was the only American entered in the men's épée at the Sydney Olympics. At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Bloom lost in the 2nd round of individual épée to Arnd Schmitt from Germany, the top-ranked épée fencer in the world, and prior Olympic champion. Bloom finished 29th.

Pan American Games

Bloom won silver medals in both individual and team foil at the

1995 Pan American Games The 1995 Pan American Games, officially known as the XII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mar del Plata 1995, were held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from 12 to 26 March 1995. After 44 years, this was the Pan American Games' first retur ...

US Championships

While studying full-time at

Mount Sinai School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City, New York, United States. The school is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sina ...

, Bloom continued to pursue the sport, and won the individual épée U.S. national championship in 1998 and 1999. Bloom was also a Junior Olympic champion in 1989.

World Championships

Bloom has competed at four World Fencing Championships. He finished 31st in 1994, his best individual placing. In the team épée event, they placed 17th that year and 20th in 1997.

Hall of Fame

Bloom was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

in 2001.

References

External links

Pan American Games resultsJune 2000 USFA Disciplinary Panel Report suggesting Bloom be publicly reprimanded for failing to inform the USFA of his knee injury prior to the 1999 World ChampionshipsIvy@50 article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Tamir 1971 births Living people American male foil fencers American male épée fencers Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai alumni Jewish épée fencers Jewish foil fencers Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers from New Jersey Olympic fencers for the United States Jewish American sportspeople Millburn High School alumni Sportspeople from Millburn, New Jersey Penn Quakers fencers Fencers at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in fencing 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen