olympics
Dubrovich counts resilience as one of her greatest strengths . Making the Olympics marked the realization of adream , but it didn ’ t play out in the way she had envisioned . Barriers — some physical , others regulatory — hindered athletes from even sharing ameal , she says . Due tothe pandemic , “ The biggest difference was that we couldn ’ t just go into Tokyo and do any exploring ,” she says . “ It is such ashame , because Japan is my favorite country to travel to , and we were just in abubble the entire time .”
Once in the nearly empty fencing venue , Dubrovich was eliminated with a single touch by Germany ’ s Leonie Ebert in the Round of 32 . Dubrovich ’ s specialty , foil , features the smallest target area of the three fencing disciplines . It ’ s limited to torso strikes . It ’ s strategic like chess , she says .
Dubrovich gained an early 2-0 advantage , but had to stage a late comeback after going down 14-11 . She tied the match at 14-14 before losing the final point . Her foil team , with individual gold medal winner Kiefer Lee , also missed out on the bronze . Dubrovich says it was “ definitely tough to lose out ” on both , but adds that she was “ grateful for the experience .”
A FUTURE IN FENCING
Dubrovich started fencing at age 8 . Before then , she had danced and done gymnastics , more mainstream athletic pursuits . But she was tall for her age , and describes herself as lanky and uncoordinated .
A cousin who fenced for Fair Lawn High School encouraged her to try fencing . The success came in droves . Through her time at Pompton Lakes High School , Dubrovich competed internationally at the youth level . Her early triumphs continued during her time at Columbia University , where she arrived as the third ranked foil fencer in USA Juniors . She led the collegiate fencing powerhouse as a three-time , first team All-American .
Michael Aufrichtig , her coach at
TEAM USA As astudent at Columbia University , Dubrovich led the collegiate fencing powerhouse as athree-time , first team All-American .
Columbia University , says Dubrovich thrived in ateam setting . She set a standard with her determination , he says , and willed her team to two NCAA team titles . Post-college , Dubrovich found more success .
As amember of the U . S . national team , she won a team bronze during the 2019 World Fencing Championships , and a team gold in the 2019 Pan American Games . After narrowly missing out on a medal in Tokyo , Dubrovich says she headed out to Hawaii for a long vacation . After Labor Day , she was back atwork .
Whether or not she fences in Paris in2024 is still up in the air . “ I ’ m looking forward to relaxing and decompressing ,” she says . “ I still have not decided if Iwant to make another run for it or retire . That will be something I ’ ll have to do some soulsearching about and figure out if this is something Iwant to commit to . I am just excited to spend time with friends and family and have some normalcy inmylife again .” ■
COURTESY OF ALEX PALOMBO PHOTOGRAPHY
24 FALL 2021 WAYNE MAGAZINE