Daryl Homer made some history for the United States as he won the silver medal in men’s saber. However, he missed a chance to become the first American man to win an Olympics fencing gold medal in more than a century. This is still an incredible win for him and the country.
“I’m just very, very pleased,” Homer said. “Just happy to be on the podium, happy that I competed, happy that I left it all out there. I think I just overthought the match a little bit, got a little of the heebie-jeebies.”
Thank you all. Beyond humbled. This is a win for US.
— Daryl Homer (@DarylDHomer) August 11, 2016
Homer became the first U.S. man to win an Olympic medal in individual sabre since Peter Westbrook, who won the bronze at the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Like Westbrook, Homer is black, a rarity in the sport.
The gold medal match was aggressive and quick, like most saber matchups. Homer quickly fell behind Aron Szilagyi of Hungary and lost, 15-8. Rio marks the third Olympic appearance of Szilagyi who has been a consistent presence on the sabre circuit for several years.
An American has never won a gold in men’s individual sabre. William Grebe, a Chicagoan who was born four years after the Civil War ended, won a silver in 1904. He died in 1960.
His quarterfinal bout against Szabo — and indeed, his entire competition — was full of moments in which it seemed like the 26-year-old was going to lose those marbles. One such moment was when Homer and Iranian Mojtaba Abedini were tied in the semifinals, 14-14. Yet Homer showed calm and poise in the most aggressive of the three weapons on his way to winning a silver medal for Team USA.
“I wouldn’t have found an access point to fencing without Peter, so I probably wouldn’t have been here,” Homer said, his silver medal hanging around his neck.
The reason Homer wanted to fence in the first place: He was reading a children’s dictionary and saw the word “fencing” illustrated with an athlete in the full regalia. “I was like, whoa, that looks really cool,” Homer said. “I ran to my mom and said that’s what I wanted to do.” Except his mom, Juliette Smith, did not let him, according to Wall Street Journal.
Homer, who fences out of the Manhattan Fencing Center and was seeded 10th, beat fencers from Kazakhstan, Germany and Iran on the way to the final.
Here are some reactions from Twitter:
Congrats to @DarylDHomer, NYC fencer who just won Silver Medal in Rio. Historic, and awesome. Hey Daryl, wanna do a podcast with us?— Freakonomics (@freakonomics) August 11, 2016
That was the goal! #RedefineGreatness https://t.co/6VtV0dO4A1
— Daryl Homer (@DarylDHomer) August 11, 2016
Congratulations, @DarylDHomer, on winning a historic silver medal in men’s sabre fencing! https://t.co/S3ScVGgnGs— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) August 11, 2016
NYC celebrating history: @DarylDhomer immigrant, Bronx native, is first American to win individual silver in men’s sabre in 112 years.
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 11, 2016
Congrats to @DarylDHomer on his silver medal today!! You crushed it man!— Alexander Massialas (@AMassialas) August 11, 2016
What did you think of Homer’s win? Sound off below in the comments section.
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Source: B2C
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