Colin Heathcock (December 20, 2005) is an American right-handed sabre fencer. He represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
| Colin Heathcock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | December 20, 2005 Beijing, China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Fencing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weapon | Sabre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hand | right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Christian Bauer Academy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Christian Bauer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life and education
editHeathcock was born to Virgil Heathcock and Julie Yang in Beijing, China and raised in Palo Alto, California. He has an older brother, Antonio, who is also a fencer. By 13 years old, Heathcock was competing internationally representing Germany, where his father has dual citizenship.[1] In 2019, he moved to Orléans, France where sabre coach Christian Bauer was opening an academy.[2]
Heathcock is an incoming freshman at Harvard University where he will be a member of the collegiate fencing team.[3]
Career
editHeathcock represented Germany at the 2022 Junior World Championships and won a gold medal in the individual sabre event.[4] In 2022, he decided to switch his national team to the United States.[1]
In April 2023 he represented the United States at the 2023 Junior Fencing World Championships and won a gold medal in the individual and team sabre events.[5] In June 2023 he represented the United States at the 2023 Pan American Fencing Championships and won a gold medal in the team sabre event.[6] In July 2023 he represented the United States at the 2023 World Fencing Championships and won a bronze medal in the men's team sabre, team USA's first ever World Fencing Championships medal in the event.[7] He finished the 2022–23 season as the world's No. 1 ranked junior men's saber fencer.[8]
In January 2024 he won gold at the Tunis Grand Prix. In March 2024 he won gold at the Padua Senior Men's Saber World, his second gold in the last three FIE senior tournaments.[9] At 18 years old, he became the youngest ever men's sabre fencer to win multiple senior level international competitions in a season.[10] In April 2024 he represented the United States at the 2024 Junior Fencing World Championships and won a gold medal in the team sabre event.[11]
In March 2024 he was named to team USA's roster to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[12][13] During the men's sabre event, Heathcock was upset by Park Sang-won of Korea in the round of 32.[14]
References
edit- ^ a b Apstein, Stephanie (July 23, 2024). "18-Year-Old Fencer Colin Heathcock Is Ready to Bring Home Gold for Team USA". SI.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "Youth movement: Meet the 32 teenagers representing the U.S. in Paris". nbcolympics.com. July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ Lopresti, Mike (July 26, 2024). "Harvard puts its mark on men's sabre team". NCAA.org. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "Germany's Heathcock and USA's Skarbonkiewicz Win Junior Sabre Gold on Opening Day of the 2022 Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships in Dubai". fie.org. Fédération Internationale d'Escrime. April 2, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "USA's Heathcock, Skarbonkiewicz Win Junior Sabre Gold on Opening Day of the 2023 Plovdiv Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships". fie.org. Fédération Internationale d'Escrime. April 1, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ Kirk, Nicole (June 20, 2023). "Team USA Finishes Competition at 2023 Pan-American Senior Championships". usafencing.org. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ Wendell, Bryan (July 28, 2023). "2023 Worlds Recap, Day 7: With Dramatic Win in Bronze Medal Match, Team USA Earns First Ever Senior Team World Championships Medal in Men's Saber". usafencing.org. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "Colin Heathcock". usafencing.org. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ Wendell, Bryan (March 4, 2024). "Team USA Saber Squads Impress in Padua and Athens as Olympic Countdown Continues". usafencing.org. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "Program-Record Eight Fencers Qualify for 2024 Olympics". gocrimson.com. May 6, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ Kirk, Nicole (April 20, 2024). "2024 Junior and Cadet Worlds, Saber Recap: Junior Men's Saber Team Secures Gold at World Championships!". usafencing.org. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ Dutta, Yashika (March 5, 2024). "Road to Paris 2024: USA's 18-Year-Old Top Junior Fencer Secures Debut Olympic Berth With 2 Big Medals". essentiallysports.com. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ Coronell Uribe, Raquel (July 26, 2024). "Harvard's fencing program charging onto the Olympics scene with 8 athletes set to compete in Paris". NBC News. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ Harris, Thomas (July 28, 2024). "Team USA's All-Harvard Men's Saber Fencing Crashes Out of Individual Tournament in Paris". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved July 29, 2024.