Olympic fencing gold medalist from New Jersey discusses her love for the sport, experience in Paris
For the first time in fencing history, Team USA won the gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Among them, is Jackie Dubrovich, of Riverdale.
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One New Jersey Olympian who won the gold medal this year in Paris is making history in her sport.
For the first time in fencing history, Team USA won the gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Among them, is Jackie Dubrovich, of Riverdale.
"My parents put me into fencing because I had a cousin who fenced in high school,” she told News 12.
From there, the Pompton Lakes High School grad went from a local level to an international level while attending Columbia University.
Dubrovich’s first time fencing in the Olympics was in 2020, in Tokyo during the Pandemic. But she says the most rewarding will always be summer 2024 in Paris.
"With Paris, it felt like my first real Olympics. I was able to meet athletes from other countries, there was a lot more socializing, something I couldn't do in Tokyo and obviously coming away with the gold medal was the cherry on top,” Dubrovich says.
Dubrovich says she left her day job to train for a year and a half up to five hours per day, five days a week.
"We do strength and conditioning, then we do fencing-specific things. We'll do drills, we'll do footwork." "You're always trying to outsmart your opponents because your opponents change too so it's an ever-evolving process,” she says.
Dubrovich says she doesn’t plan on returning to the Olympics but she's now in the process of opening her own fencing club in Orange, New Jersey.
"It'll be a good way for me to stay involved in the sport and kind of give back to the sport in a way because it's given me so much and has shaped my life,” she added.
She is also planning a wedding with her coach who became her fiancé.
“It's an interesting dynamic to have your partner be your coach but it's a really cool thing that we share, and we can share with our kids one day too,” Dubrovich says.
