ICYMI, there are a handful of American Jewish fencers headed to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Americans Nick Itkin and Eli Dershwitz are vying for medals at their second and third Olympics, respectively. Meanwhile on the women’s side, foilist Maia Weintraub will make her Olympic debut as part of the women’s foil team event.
Here are 18 things to know about her.
1. Maia was born on Oct. 24, 2002 in Philadelphia.
2. She’s a Scorpio.
3. Maia is patrilineally Jewish! Her dad Jason has Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, while her mom Elizabeth has Eurasian heritage with a Catholic background.
4. Maia started fencing at the age of 8 or 9. Her uncles Adam and Joshua fenced sabre and epee for Harvard and recommended to Maia’s dad that she try the sport.
5. She thinks fencing is an especially unique sport!
“I feel like it’s not one of those sports where you can just pick up a foil or weapon and just start,” she told the International Fencing Federation. “You have to dedicate yourself to learning the art of fencing before you can actually do it. And I think that dedicating that time and choosing to do it makes it special.”
6. In middle school, Maia started commuting regularly from Philadelphia to train at Fencers Club in New York City.
“I have had to sacrifice a lot, especially my social life. But fencing has also given me things I would not have had otherwise,” she told Philly Magazine in 2020. “It has given me a community of my own, and has allowed me to travel the country and the world. It has also taught me time management, which I’m grateful for and which will serve me well even after I’m done fencing.”
7. She competed at the European Maccabi Games in 2019.
8. She graduated from Friends Select High School in 2021. She currently attends Princeton University, where she is on the fencing team.
9. Maia was the 2022 women’s foil fencing NCAA champion!
10. Watch her win the gold medal bout!
11. At Princeton, Maia has also been involved with a K-Pop dance company!
12. Maia’s coach Mark Masters says that she’s a strong competitor because she has intelligenza da scherma.
“It’s a way of being able to understand the complexities of rhythm and timing that are involved, and analyzing your opponents’ timing and movements and action,” Masters told the Trentonian. “She’s able to do that, where she could be losing, but she doesn’t worry about losing, because she’s been analyzing her opponent and can come from behind and win.”
13. Some of Maia’s other career highlights include being the 2019 and 2023 USA Fencing Division I National Champion and being a three-time medalist at the World Championships. She won a junior team silver in 2021, junior team gold in 2022 and a senior team silver in 2022.
14. Maia went to the Tokyo Olympics as a training partner for Team USA. In Paris, she’ll be a part of the U.S. women’s foil team event!
15. For the 2023-2024 season, Maia is ranked 13th in the world.
16. Swipe to see Maia and her women’s foil teammates in Paris teach Snoop Dogg some fencing skills.
17. Check out Maia rocking some Team USA outfits!
18. Maia’s goal for the Paris Olympics is to come out of it knowing she fenced her best, regardless of the result. You can listen to her talk more about her preparation and hopes for the Games below: