Three-time U.S. Olympian Keeth Smart Overcomes Great Adversity in Life to Place Fifth in Men’s Saber Grand Prix Individual Event, Nzingha Prescod Wins Bronze for U.S. in Women’s Foil World Cup Event in Las Vegas, Nev.

For Immediate Release

June 22, 2008

LAS VEGAS, Nev.- Keeth Smart (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has a good day of fencing to place in the top eight in the Men's Saber Grand Prix individual competition today at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.  Smart lost to the eventual silver medalist Luigi Tarantino of Italy, who has consistently been among the best in the world this season.  Though Smart has had better finishes in the past, this was pretty impressive given what he has overcome to get to this point.  On March 31, 2008 Keeth Smart (Brooklyn, N.Y.) qualified for his third consecutive Olympic Games, but had an unexpected road block along the way.  In mid-March Smart contracted a rare blood disorder called ITP while at a fencing tournament in Algiers, Algeria.  ITP severely affects platelet levels in the blood making them dangerously low.  Doctors think he contracted this from something he ate while in Africa.  Smart was hospitalized for two weeks and given medication and now seems to be back to his old self, but he had to take two months away from the sport and has just recently returned.  While battling the blood illness, Keeth also suffered the loss of his mother, Audrey Elizabeth "Liz" Smart who passed away on May 25, 2008 after a two-year battle with stage IV colon cancer.  Keeth had already lost his father, Thomas Smart, when he died of a sudden heart attack in August 2005.  His mother and father were tremendous supporters of both Keeth and his sister Erinn, especially when it came to their Olympic quests in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, 2004 in Athens, Greece and now in 2008 on the road to Beijing, China.

Given everything that could have been on Keeth's mind, it is even more incredible when you think about the way he fenced today.  Even after the loss to Tarantino, Keeth's mind was working on figuring out how to defeat him so that he would be ready if they meet in the bracket at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

 "I'm really, really happy," said Smart.  "I missed a good two months because of a rare blood disease called ITP.  For me to come back and make the top eight at the last Grand Prix, the hardest tournament of the year is a big, big push for me.  I just needed to get back in the swing of things.  I missed so many competitions compared to all of my competitors here.  I was out from mid-March.  I missed the U.S. National Championships and four consecutive World Cups.  I feel great.  Personally I think we have a great team.  Tim Morehouse (Bronx, N.Y./New York, N.Y.) is ranked in the top 16; I'm ranked in the top 10, maybe top eight now and Jason Rogers (Los Angeles, Calif./New York, N.Y.) is ranked in the top 25.  We have a really strong team and the most important thing is that we've been together for most of the past four or five years, so everyone knows the disappointment that we felt at the last Games (2004 in Athens, Greece), to miss out on a medal twice by one touch.  Now we feel we can only grow from that experience.  Nothing seems worse in the sport than losing out on a medal twice by only one touch so we can only learn from that."

Keeth's Olympic teammates didn't fare well in today's individual competition as Morehouse, the 2004 Olympic replacement athlete, was upset in the first round by Russia's Alexei Frossine and Rogers lost to China's Man Zhong also in the first round.  James Williams (Sacramento, Calif./New York, N.Y.), the replacement athlete for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Men's Saber Team fell in the second round of the 64 athlete bracket to Vladislav Tretiak of Hungary.

Today also saw individual competition in the Women's Foil World Cup event.  The results make the future look bright for the United States as 15-year-old Nzingha Prescod fenced her way all the way to the bronze medal, falling to the eventual champion and 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Valentina Vezzali of Italy 11-15 in the bronze medal match.

"I felt pretty good, I was fencing pretty well," said Prescod.  "It makes me feel pretty good.  I was pretty excited.  I didn't expect to get that far, but I was happy that I did.

Emily Cross(New York, N.Y.), a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, also fell to Vezzali one round earlier in the quarterfinals by the score of 9-14.

"I'm pretty pleased with my day today," said Cross.  "The girl that I beat to make top eight (Chieko Sugawara of Japan) is a really tough competitor.  This is actually the first time that I've beaten her in a tournament so that's pretty exciting.  It was a good bout with Valentina (Vezzali); it always is.  Obviously it's tough to beat her.  She wins pretty much every tournament we go to.  I was pleased that I was able to stay with her for most of the bout.  I think we've got a pretty strong chance, especially as a team in Beijing.  We're a young team and we're not all that experienced working with each other, but I think we've got a good chance if we're all fencing well and working together, I think we can perform."

Cross's 2008 U.S. Olympic teammates did not fare as well as Erinn Smart (Brooklyn, N.Y.) lost in the third round and Hannah Thompson (Rochester, N.Y.) was upset in the first round.  The 2008 Olympic replacement athlete in women's foil, Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.), also advanced to the third round before suffering defeat.

For complete results from today's competition, please visit www.prisedefer.com.  Tomorrow the men's saber team competition will wrap-up the event with medal round bouts scheduled for 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.  All competition is taking place at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino and admission is free.  The competition is in the Ballroom located in the Exhibition Center at the base of the Island Tower.

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for women's foil will all see action tomorrow.  Erinn Smart (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 2004 U.S. Olympian, 2000 replacement athlete and Keeth Smart's sister, will be joined by Junior World Champion Emily Cross (New York, N.Y.) and Hannah Thompson (Rochester, N.Y.).  The replacement athlete in women's foil is Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.).

The Men's Saber Grand Prix team competition will wrap-up this Las Vegas event on Monday, June 23.  The U.S. men's sabre squad just missed out on a medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, finishing fourth.  They will be looking to use the Las Vegas Grand Prix event as a critical tune-up for their march to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where they hope to reach the podium.  Two-time U.S. Olympian Keeth Smart (Brooklyn, N.Y./2000 and 2004) and 2004 U.S. Olympic alternate Tim Morehouse (Bronx, N.Y./New York, N.Y.) will be joined by Jason Rogers (Los Angeles, Calif./New York, N.Y.).  James Williams (Sacramento, Calif./New York, N.Y.) will serve as the replacement athlete.

Please see below for the remaining competition schedule (all times are Pacific Daylight Time):

Monday, June 23

9:00 a.m. - Men's Saber Grand Prix - Team Competition 5:00 p.m. - Men's Saber Grand Prix - Team Bronze Medal Bout 6:00 p.m. - Men's Saber Grand Prix - Team Gold Medal Bout

For more information, please contact Cecil Bleiker, NGB Media Services Director for U.S. Fencing at 719-330-2062.  This press release is also available on the USOC's media specific website at www.usocpressbox.org.