Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Columbia fencer faces Olympic dilemma
By Tarin O'Donnell
Columbia Daily Spectator (Columbia U.)
02/08/2006

(CSTV U-WIRE) NEW YORK — Columbia's Emily Jacobson has a big decision to make about her future. But unlike most of the sophomore class, considering majors and summer jobs, Jacobson is wrestling with the decision to leave school to make her second appearance in the Olympic games, with a gold medal in 2008 in the crosshairs.

Jacobson is no stranger to world-class fencing competition, and medaling in the games is a distinct possibility for her. She competed for the United States in the 2004 Olympics, won bronze at the 2003 Pan American Games, and was the second-ranked U.S. saber fencer in 2003 (senior and junior divisions). She has traveled around the world for numerous World Cup competitions since the beginning of high school, along with her Yale-graduate teammate and older sister Sada, who took the bronze medal in saber in Athens.

If she elects to shoot for the Beijing games, she will have to take two to three years off from school to train full time, without the security of a guaranteed spot on the team, and knowing that she will graduate two or more years behind her 2008 classmates.

While she speaks fondly of her globe-trotting experiences, the great friends she cultivated within the small fencing community, and the exhilaration of competing at the pinnacle of her sport, she admits that she has had to sacrifice a lot in order to train for four hours each day.

"I didn't really have much of a high school experience," she said. "I was at tournaments every other weekend; one time, I was gone for a solid month."

She currently trains at the renowned New York Fencing Club with her private coach, covering everything from cardio to coordination drills to fighting teammates.

Jacobson's specialty is the saber, the modern version of the cavalry sword. The competition had its debut in 2004 and is still not fully established, with qualifications for 2008 still up in the air.

Jacobson, a psychology major, is busy enough taking five classes this semester and managing a long-distance relationship with a fencer at Ohio State. She is tempted to enjoy her college years without having to carry the expectations of her Olympic coaches and teammates on her shoulders. On the weekends, she lives out her state- school envy with frequent visits to Ohio State.

But she is constantly plagued by her upcoming decision to either finish school in four years or to take time off to train for the Games with Sada and possibly her promising younger sister Jackie.

Jacobson fondly remembers the last Summer Olympics, which ended one day before she had to arrive at John Jay for the start of her freshman year. Coming right off the 10-day party that is living in the Olympic Village, she wanted to tell everyone about her experience but at the same time wanted to be just another student on campus. While her future classmates packed up their cars after a long, uneventful summer, Jacobson was touring the Olympic Village and the Greek Islands.

"Everywhere you look it was like, 'Whoa, I've seen you on the cover of a magazine,'" she said.

Jacobson had time to take in the sites since the fencers were done with their competition on the fourth day, leaving 10 to 12 days free.

"You have your credential, and you can get anything you want for free. Sports Illustrated hosted all these parties on the beach ... Being 18 years old, not having been in college yet, I was used to partying in a basement."

However, she also remembers experiencing a strong mix of emotions as she watched her best friend, Mariel Zagunis, win gold, and her sister the bronze.

"It was a difficult situation because you know, the team was me, Mariel, and Sada. And we had been training, traveling, and competing together for so long," she said. "We get to the Olympics and you know, it wasn't my day. ... It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to deal with. On the one hand, I wanted to support them, but on the other hand, I was like, wait. I mean they got a lot of attention and still do today."

She added that there is always a lingering feeling that she had the potential to earn a medal, had she only been able to train full-time in the months and years leading up to the games as her competitors had.

With the 2008 Olympics now barely two years away, Jacobson is weighing the options: Either putting her college life on hold in her junior year or taking the traditional four-year path. She understands and appreciates this unique opportunity, but she also sees the risk in possibly not making the team and delaying her life after fencing and college for a long time.

But she is coming into her prime as a fencer and knows she could achieve more with the right training. While it is a family affair (her father was a Yale fencer and was on the national team in the '70s) and a compelling tale of three driven sisters in a newly established saber realm — the decision is ultimately Jacobson's, and she doesn't want to have any regrets.

"Sometimes you have to let things go," she said.

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