Mariel Leigh Zagunis (born March 3, 1985 in Beaverton, Oregon) is an American Olympic sabre fencer, of Lithuanian heritage. She won the gold medals in the individual sabre at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. She is only the second American ever to have won a gold medal in Olympic fencing.
Zagunis is the daughter of Olympians. Her parents, Robert and Cathy Zagunis, were collegiate rowers, at Oregon State University and Connec...
more
Mariel Leigh Zagunis (born March 3, 1985 in Beaverton, Oregon) is an American Olympic sabre fencer, of Lithuanian heritage. She won the gold medals in the individual sabre at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. She is only the second American ever to have won a gold medal in Olympic fencing.
Zagunis is the daughter of Olympians. Her parents, Robert and Cathy Zagunis, were collegiate rowers, at Oregon State University and Connecticut College, respectively, before competing with the U.S. rowing team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Her older brother Marten and younger brother Merrick also fence sabre.
She was the first American fencer to hold the Jr. World Cup Champion title (2002), and she did so three years in a row (2002, 2003, 2004). She is the youngest fencer ever to win the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) World Championship gold, and the youngest fencer to win three FIE medals in one season. Zagunis won the FIE over-all medal three years in a...
less
