All eyes were on London this summer at the 2012 Olympic Games, and St. John’s University was well represented. Two Red Storm fencers and a former STJ track-and-field star competed in the games, making headlines both on and off the playing field.
First-time Olympian Daryl Homer ’13CPS placed sixth in Men’s Saber, the highest finish of any athlete on the USA Men’s Fencing team. He tied St. John’s alumnus Keeth Smart’s sixth-place result in 2008 - a mark that remains the highest by an American since Peter Westbrook won the bronze medal in 1984. Homer also helped his teammates finish eighth in Men’s Team Saber.The youngest member of Team USA’s men’s squad, the 22-year-old Homer won back-to-back NCAA Championships for St. John’s in his sophomore and junior years. Commentators agree that he is one of the most dynamic and promising American fencers with a bright future in the Olympics. His St. John’s classmate Dagmara Wozniak ’13C finished eighth in Women’s Saber, ultimately losing to the No. 2 seed in the quarterfinals. The competition was Wozniak’s second trip to the Olympics, as she served as a replacement athlete for the U.S. Women’s Saber team in the 2008 Games in Beijing. These young Red Storm fencers were joined in London by St. John’s Fencing Coach Yury Gelman, who served as Coach of Team USA Fencing for the fourth time. In 2008, he led the Olympics Men’s Saber Team to its best-ever finish and its first medal since 1984.
Watch the three-part series of the the Red Storm Olympic Preview. Meanwhile, former St. John’s standout Phobay Kutu-Akoi ’09C ran the 100-meter dash for her home nation of Liberia, narrowly missing the semifinal round by only .4 seconds. She memorably served as her nation’s flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremonies and her inspiring story as an immigrant, who fled Liberia in 1999 due to political unrest, gained national acclaim. Kutu-Akoi holds both the St. John's and Liberian records in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.52 seconds.