Nick Itkin wins bronze in Paris, becoming first of Jewish fencers to medal

(JTA) — Fencer Nick Itkin has medaled in his second straight Olympics, winning a bronze on Monday.

Itkin, 24, a Los Angeles native and the No. 2-ranked men’s foil fencer in the world, won bronze in the individual men’s foil competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, defeating Japan’s Kazuki Iimura 15-12.

Itkin’s win is the US team’s third foil medal so far in Paris, following Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs’ respective gold and silver medals in the women’s foil event.

Itkin won a bronze medal in the team foil competition at the Tokyo Olympics, but placed twelfth in the individual contest in those games. He is also a two-time NCAA champion. Last year he became the first American man, and third US fencer overall, to win individual medals at back-to-back world championships after winning a silver medal at the 2023 World Fencing Championships.

Jewish competitors at the 2024 Olympics

Itkin is one of six fencers out of 20 on the US team in Paris who are Jewish or come from Jewish families. They have not performed as well so far.

Fellow US fencers Eli Dershwitz, Jackie Dubrovich and Mitchell Saron all lost early matches this weekend, knocking them out of individual competition. Yuval Freilich, the first Israeli man to become a European fencing champion, also lost in a surprise upset in his first match.

Itkin’s father Misha is a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine who opened a fencing club in L.A., where he coached his son. The pair also traveled to Israel together in 2022.

“I can’t say that I’m very much involved in the Jewish religion, but my father, it’s a huge part of his identity so obviously I grew up experiencing the culture and the religion,” Itkin told the Sporting Tribune in May. “When we visited Israel, it was one of his goals, to bring his family there. It meant a lot to him.”

Itkin will compete in the team foil competition on Sunday when the US team takes on Egypt in the first round.