Four Columbians Compete in Beijing, Fencers Medal

The fencing program at Columbia is perennially one of the best in the country, but during the Olympics, two former Columbia fencers—James Williams, CC ’07, and Erinn Smart, BC ’01—proved that they are among the greatest in the world as they earned Olympic medals.

In Beijing, Smart and the underdog United States team took home a silver medal in the women’s team foil. The U.S. women’s foil team was not expected to win a medal as it was ranked seventh in the quarterfinals, but with upset victories over Poland—the reigning world champion—and third-seeded Hungary, the U.S. earned a spot in the gold medal match against Russia. That bout did not go well as the U.S. lost, 28-11, but the defeat still earned the American team a spot on the podium.

A day after Smart received her silver medal, Williams earned a silver medal of his own in the men’s team sabre. The U.S. team had to come from behind in both its quarterfinal and semifinal matches, but was able to advance to the finals thanks to the performance of Smart’s brother, Keeth. Keeth went to St. John’s as an undergraduate and is currently starting his first year at Columbia’s Graduate School of Business. The silver medal earned by Williams and the U.S. team is the first American medal in men’s fencing since the 1984 games in Los Angeles.

Two more Columbians also competed in Beijing—Courtney King-Dye, GS ’04, in equestrian and Erison Hurtault, CC ’07, in track and field.

King-Dye competed in dressage with the horse Harmony’s Mythilus and made it to the finals on Aug. 19, where she placed 13th overall.

After not making the U.S. track and field team, Hurtault decided to run the 400 meter for Dominica, the country in which both of his parents were born. He ran in the fourth of seven heats and finished in fourth place in his heat with a time of 46.10. However, he did not move on to the next round, as he did not finish in the top three in his heat and his time was not one of the three best of the fourth-place finishers.