Talk about getting the upper hand!
Sixteen-year-old Brighton Beach fencer Alan Temiryaev won gold at the Junior Olympic National Championship in Missouri on Feb. 18, becoming one of the youngest competitors to ever win the under-20s tournament and ousting last year’s winner by exploiting his slick southpaw style in a riveting overtime victory, according to the teen’s coach.
“He’s a lefty and that gives him an advantage because there is a different range of motion for when you’re fencing a lefty and a lot of fencers aren’t used to it — people get confused,” said Brighton Beach saber guru Misha Mokrestsov, who owns Coney Island’s New York Fencing Academy.
The James Madison High School sophomore also has a knack for performing under pressure, Mokrestsov says — in the championship’s final match against 18-year-old Columbia University competitor Mick Yamanaka, Temiryaev trailed 4–6 but managed to score two points in the last 20 seconds of the round to tie it at 6–6. In overtime, Temiryaev scored a point and secured the win.
The teen says he couldn’t be happier that he beat both his older challenger and his own nerves to finish a cut above the rest.
“I was just so happy and really excited — a 16-year-old just won a 20-year-old event,” said Temiryaev. “There was a lot of pressure. It took a lot of willpower to overcome the fear of losing.”
The win earned Temiryaev a national championship medal and one of three coveted spots on the national team to compete in the junior world championships in Bulgaria in April.
It is a situation the dueler couldn’t have imagined when he first set foot in the New York Fencing Academy six years ago — he just came in for fun one day and now
“I came in, took one class, thought it was fun, and then it just kept building,” said Temiryaev. “It’s natural to me.”
Temiryaev hopes to one day represent the U.S. in the Olympics, but he knows the pen is just as mighty as the sword, and also has his sights set on studying to be a doctor in college.
