Dubrovich , afirst-time Olympian and former Riverdale resident , says her most memorable experience wasn ’ t her near comeback during aone point loss in the individual competition Round of32 . Rather , it was waking upjet-lagged at 4a . m ., looking out over the harbor and watching the sun rise .

“ It was such abeautiful moment and made meappreciate the journey so much ,” says Dubrovich , who is 27 . “ It was deeply emotional toreal- ize that Ifinally achieved my dream of competing at the Olympics .”

Another highlight : meeting Kevin Durant and the entire men ’ s basketball team at the Opening Ceremonies . “ My fiancé is ahuge Brooklyn Nets fan ,” she says . “ Sending him the photo ofmestanding next to KD was surreal for him .”

The pandemic postponed the 2020 Olympics and prompted her coach to move toNantucket . It also led Dubrovich ’ s former employer to lay her off . “ In the moment , itfelt like the end of the world ,” she says . But her fiancé , Brian Kaneshige ,

says that due to tenacity and luck , Dubrovich quickly rebounded . She found anew job within afew months . Her employer was willing to give her time off for training camps and the competition .

Moreover , Kaneshige just happened to be a fellow internationallevel fencer willing to take on a coaching role with her .

“ I had stopped competing and had no chance to qualify for the Olympics when COVID arrived . So , we hit the ground running ,” he says .

Kaneshige says finding balance has been a key objective for Dubrovich , who now lives in Maplewood and works as an account strategist for retail media . She set a clear goal

TOUCHÉ Jacqueline Dubrovich , at left , competes against Russia ’ s Marta Martyanova at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Chiba City , Chiba

Prefecture , Japan .

of living the life of an Olympic athlete and of developing her career , Kaneshige says . “ A lot of fencers see it as a one-or-the-other decision ,” he says . “ There ’ s a lot of pressure , especially when you see your peers going on to do impressive things in their own careers . Igive her alot of credit for taking a chance on herself .”

Having her significant other in a coaching role also required some balancing . During the Olympic training , the two split time between watching fencing bouts and feature films — when Dubrovich wasn ’ t working on simulated competition , strength and conditioning . They also avoided talking about fencing when Kaneshige wasn ’ t on the clock .

MOHD RASFAN / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

22 FALL 2021 WAYNE MAGAZINE