Soren Thompson

Soren Thompson
At Trophée Monal 2013
Personal information
Country represented	United States
Born	(1981-05-05) May 5, 1981 San Diego, United States
Residence	New York City
Weapon(s)	épée
Hand	Right-handed
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb)
Club	New York Athletic Club
Head coach(es)	Sebastien Dos Santos
FIE Ranking	current raking
Medal record Men's fencing Representing  United States World Championships 2012 Kiev Team épée 1999 Keszthely Junior Team épée Representing Princeton University NCAA Fencing Championships 2001 Individual Épée 2002 Individual Épée 2005 Individual Épée

Soren Hunter Miles Sussman Thompson^[1][2] (born May 5, 1981) is an American right-handed epee fencer. He represented the United States in the 2004 Olympic Games, where he lost in the quarterfinals, and in 2012.^[3]

Thompson attended Torrey Pines High School (class of 1999) and Princeton University, graduating in 2005.^[4]

Fencing career

Thompson started fencing when he was 7 years old and eventually became the highest-ranked junior in the United States.^[4]

He currently represents the New York Athletic Club and trains there and at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. His coaches have included Alison Reid, Lisa Posthumus, Gago Demirchian, Yefim Litvan, Michel Sebastiani, Heizaburo Okawa, Abdel Salem, and Michael D'Asaro Sr.^[4]

NCAA championships

Fencing at Princeton under Maitre Michel Sebastiani,^[5] Thompson was 2001 NCAA Épée Champion, 2nd in 2002,^[6] and 3rd in 2005.^[7]

His other NCAA awards include First Team All-American in 2001, 2002, and 2005, and Honorary All-American in 2003, First Team All-Ivy in 2001–03 and 2005, and Academic All-Ivy in 2005.

In 2005, Princeton awarded him the William Winston Roper Trophy.^[8]

Junior National championships

Thompson won the Junior National Championship in épée three times.

Senior North American Cup

He is a senior NAC champion.

World Cup

Thompson came in 2nd at the 2004 Buenos Aires Senior Épée World Cup.^[9]

World championships

He won the Bronze Medal in the 1999 World Junior Team Championships.

Thompson took 8th in the 2003 World Championships, defeating top seed Ivan Kovacs of Hungary (15–14).^[10]

In 2004 Thompson made it as far as the Round of 16 in a field of 171 competitors.^[11]

In 2006 he came in 26th in the World Championships in épée.^[12]

In 2007, he came in 7th in the World Championships in epee.^[12]

At the 2012 World Fencing Championships, he won the gold medal for the team epee event.^[12]

Olympics

Thompson fenced for the US in the 2004 Olympics, taking 7th place in the individual competition and 5th place in the team competition. Along the way, in the Round of 16, he defeated Alfredo Rota of Italy, the No. 1 ranked épée fencer in the world, 15–13.^[13] He then lost 15–11 to the 2000 Olympic gold medallist Pavel Kolobkov of Russia.^[14] He became the first American to reach the men’s épée quarterfinals in nearly 50 years.^[15] He also represented the United States in the 2012 London Games, but was eliminated in the round of 32 in the individual event.

Pan American Games

Thompson competed on the men's épée team at the 2003 Pan American Games. They finished fourth.^[4]

Maccabiah Games

Thompson, who is Jewish, won a team silver medal at the 2005 17th Maccabiah Games.^[16]

Miscellaneous

• Thompson is a resident of San Diego.
• Thompson appears in Impractical Jokers as a guest star.

See also

• Princeton University Olympians
• List of select Jewish fencers

References