L.A. Fencing Champ Nick Itkin Is Eyeing Olympic Gold in Paris and Back Home

Swordsmanship courses through the veins of Olympic fencer Nick Itkin, the world's number-one ranked fencer. The Los Angeles native’s aim for gold, and representing the United States in Paris 2024 this summer, fulfills a childhood dream.

“It means a lot,” Itkin tells Los Angeles . “Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being at this level and being able to show my best results. And it's not only just about me; it's competing for a whole country, which is another feeling.”

Itkin comes from a line of athletes. Before emigrating from Ukraine to the U.S., his father, Michael, was a professional fencer, while his mom, Tatyana, was a member of that country’s rhythmic gymnastics team.

As a kid, Itkin learned how to fence at his father's fencing club in West Los Angeles. He would go there every day after school to watch fencing and his father coach while doing his homework.

From there, his interest in the sport solidified.

“As I got older, I wanted to start doing it more and more and my dad started coaching me and realizing how much I wanted to do it seriously,” Itkin says. “And we started working together.”

At Notre Dame, Itkin won back-to-back NCAA Men’s Foil Championships from 2018–19. He also had a dominant stretch in those two years, foreshadowing what was to come for the Los Angeles native.

In 2018, he achieved a historic feat as the first American to win gold in all three competitions: the Junior World Fencing Championship, the US National Fencing Championship, and the NCAA Fencing Championship in a single year.

At 21, Itkin debuted at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, winning bronze in the men’s team event. He continued his success by earning bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023 in individual foil at the World Championships, becoming the first U.S. male athlete to achieve back-to-back medals to rank him number one in fencing — a feat he considers his biggest career accomplishment so far.

“I think it's really difficult because our sport is very hard to stay consistent,” Itkin says. “One thing that is really difficult in this sport, which really takes it to the next level, is being consistent on a high-level stage. That’s what I’m working at, and this summer, I’m going to have to prove it.”

Itkin's life mission is to elevate fencing's popularity in the U.S., aiming to attract more spectators and cultivate a big market similar to other countries. He believes winning will do that.

Itkin trains five to six times a week, twice a day, in preparation for Paris 2024 and utilizes Western Ukrainian cultural saunas for recovery. After Paris, his goal is to compete in the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be held in his hometown, Los Angeles.

“[The Olympics] being in L.A., I feel like I have a responsibility to make sure that people tune into the sport and show it to everyone I grew up with and in my city,” Itkin shares. “The sport that I've fell in love with and all the work that I've been putting in to be able to showcase that in my own city at the highest level is a dream of mine,”

Paris will be Itkin’s second stint in the Olympics, giving the 24-year-old more experience under his sword for LA28. As competition is days away, the world will soon witness whether the Ukrainian-American fencing prodigy can transform his lifelong dream into a golden reality at the biggest stage.