Direct Elimination Podcast

Direct Elimination Podcast

The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts.The world of elite fencing's most relatable duo — Ari Simmons and Stephen Ewart of Team USA — team up to provide next-level access to life as a fencer as it unfolds. The two teammates drop insights about their journeys to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. They also endlessly rag on each other as friends do, chat about their sport and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them.Topics they explore:The mindset of world-class athletesFailure, resilience, and comeback storiesNCAA & Olympic fencing insightsThe role of social media, culture, and community in sportsWhy athletes do what they do — and what keeps them fightingSubscribe for episodes that deliver real talk, laughs, and lessons — straight from the fencing strip to your headphones.

  1. 2d ago

    Ryan Choi, Hong Kong Fencing World Champion, Almost Walked Away from the Sport Months Before Making History | The Will to Win Ep. 7

    Months before winning the World Championship, Ryan Choi walked up to his coach and said he wanted to stop. What happened next changed everything. The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts. In this episode, you'll discover: • Why winning the Asian Cadet Championship at 14 planted the seeds of both ambition and identity-threatening pressure, and how that dynamic quietly shaped Ryan Choi's career • How three years of sacrifice aimed at Paris ended without an Olympic spot, and what it felt like to contribute to a historic team result that still wasn't enough for Ryan personally • The exact moment in Vancouver when Ryan told his coach he was done, and his coach's response that unexpectedly moved him and turned the entire season around • Why self-forgiveness, not discipline or strategy, was the real turning point behind three consecutive wins and a World Championship title Ryan Choi is a fencing world champion in foil and Hong Kong's highest-ranked fencer. Competing on the senior international circuit since his teens, he has represented Hong Kong at the World Championships, Olympic Games and across the FIE World Cup circuit, reaching world number one while openly describing himself as anything but a standard athlete. This podcast was produced in collaboration with the International Fencing Federation (FIE). Here's a question for the comments: Ryan says the will to win is accepting that you can lose. Do you think that kind of acceptance makes elite athletes stronger — or does it risk taking the edge off? ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Intro: World Champion Who Almost Quit 00:01:33 - Ryan's First International Win at 14 00:03:31 - Youth Olympics Silver and the Moment He Believed He Could Be the Best 00:04:33 - Three Years Chasing Paris 00:06:49 - First-Round Exits and Lost Direction 00:07:42 - Vancouver: The Breaking Point 00:09:09 - What his Coach Said That Changed Everything 00:10:10 - Three Wins in a Row Including the World Championship 00:12:58 - The Role of Self-Forgiveness in the Comeback 00:16:21 - Dealing with the Home Loss at Worlds in Hong Kong 00:20:27 - What Being Number One in the World Feels Like 00:23:19 - The Pressure of Being a Public Athlete in Hong Kong 00:24:59 - Rapid Fire Questions 00:28:03 - Closing 💬 BEST QUOTES "I think mainly it's because I forgave myself at the hardest moment of my life." "If you are heartbroken or you feel very sad about what you're doing, try to resist a little bit more. Just one more moment." "The will to win is accepting that you can lose." "I started to have the the mindset that maybe I'm one of the strongest now. And actually at that moment there's more pressure because I started to be greedy." 🔗 CONNECT WITH RYAN 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanchoiiiii/ ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RyanChoiOfficial 🔗 CONNECT WITH THE FIE 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencing_fie/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fie_fencing ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJEy8aBnqDymMIcJCh72gMw 🌐: https://fie.org/ 🎵 Music Credits: Antidepresseur by Patchworker f.k.a. [friendzoned] | https://soundcloud.com/patchworker Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US Thank you for listening! 🔗 Check out FencR 🌐: https://www.fencr.app/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app 🔗 Connect with Us 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast 📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 Prieur USA 🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/

  2. Oct 19

    World and Olympic Champion Gergely Siklósi Discusses Koki Kano Rivalry and Setting Himself Up for Success | The Will to Win Ep. 6

    He won the World Championship 6 months after hand surgery, then went on to become an Olympic medalist and one of the most dominant fencers of his generation. Gergely Siklósi on the mindset that changed everything. The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts. In this episode, you'll discover: • How Siklósi went from being cut from the Hungarian team to World Champion in under a year and the hand injury that forced the mental shift to make it possible • The mantra he repeats before Olympic bouts to make winning matter less, and why deliberately devaluing the result is what frees him to perform at his best • Why he was sitting nearly asleep in the Tokyo ready room while every other finalist was hyped up, and why he believes that was the correct call • His honest assessment of his Koki Kano rivalry, why he is at peace saying Kano is ahead, and what he is still chasing at LA 2028 Gergely Siklósi is a Hungarian épée fencer, 2019 World Champion, Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist, and Paris 2024 Olympic Champion in teams. He is one of the most analytically honest voices in elite fencing on the mental side of the sport. After listening: what is the one thing Siklósi said that most challenges how you think about competing or how you think about wanting to win? Drop it in the comments. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Introduction: Who Is Gergely Siklósi? 00:01:48 - The Friendship and Watching Siklósi’s Success 00:04:24 - The Hand Injury, Surgery, and Recovery 00:05:23 - Rediscovering Joy: How Less Became More 00:07:43 - Quality vs. Quantity - The Training Lesson That Changed Everything 00:09:00 - The 2019 World Championship Final: Down 10-13 00:10:54 - Trusting Your Training: Fencing Without Thinking 00:14:49 - Making Winning Matter Less 00:15:35 - Tokyo Olympics 00:19:35 - The Silver Medal That Haunted Him for 18 Months 00:23:01 - Paris 2024 and the One-Touch Team Final 00:25:34 - The Koki Kano Rivalry: Respect, Honesty, and the War Not Over 00:27:05 - The Goal He Is Willing to Say Out Loud: LA 2028 00:32:26 - Rapid Fire 💬 BEST QUOTES "I was training so hard and it turns out quantity is not better than quality training." [00:04:10] "I felt like I found the joy of fencing, because till then, I was training for success.I wanted to win, I was fighting for it. And then I realized that less can be more." [00:05:23] "My family loves me, my friends love me and I have a good life, and losing here is not going to change that. Winning, winning here, it's not going to change that. So I make the winning less serious, less rewarding." [00:15:03] "The will to win is reachable. I think, especially in fencing, anyone can get there." [00:35:38] 🔗 CONNECT WITH GERGELY 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siklosigergo/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gergosiklosi 🔗 CONNECT WITH THE FIE 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencing_fie/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fie_fencing ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJEy8aBnqDymMIcJCh72gMw 🌐: https://fie.org/ 🎵 Music Credits: Antidepresseur by Patchworker f.k.a. [friendzoned] | https://soundcloud.com/patchworker Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US Thank you for listening! 🔗 Check out FencR 🌐: https://www.fencr.app/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app 🔗 Connect with Us 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast 📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 Prieur USA 🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/

  3. Oct 12

    Canada's First Olympic Fencing Medalist Eleanor Harvey Talks Mentality, Pressure and Dealing with Success| The Will to Win Ep. 5

    Eleanor Harvey, Canada’s first Olympic Fencing medalist, gets deep about the emotional dysregulation she felt following the Paris Games, how she sets herself up for success, and what the will to win looks like in one of the sport’s top athletes. The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts. In this episode, you'll discover: • Why Eleanor deliberately kills her own ego before every tournament and why she believes that mental reflex is the reason she wins • The unexpected emotional crash after achieving a lifelong dream: two weeks as 'a shell of a human' that nobody talks about • How food poisoning, grief, and COVID accidentally unlocked Eleanor's best fencing, and what that reveals about pressure and performance • Why the losses that haunt elite athletes aren't the ones they were outskilled in, but the ones where the fight simply wasn't there Eleanor Harvey is one of Canada's most decorated athletes, a senior World Cup winner, and the athlete at the center of Canada's historic rise in women's foil. She's also one of the most psychologically honest competitors you'll hear in any sport. This podcast was produced in collaboration with the International Fencing Federation (FIE). 💬 What's a moment in your own sport (or life) where zero expectations actually set you free? Drop it in the comments. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Introducing Eleanor Harvey 00:01:17 - Being the Favorite: The Target on Your Back 00:02:04 - The Superstition of Never Expecting to Win 00:04:23 - Yoga, Mindfulness & Staying Present Under Pressure 00:05:16 - Two Weeks as a Shell: Life After the Olympic Medal 00:06:59 - Returning to Training & Feeling Like You Suck Again 00:08:47 - How Chaos and Low Expectations Unlock Your Best Fencing 00:09:52 - Who You Are Off the Strip Is Who You Are On It 00:11:04 - Canada's Rise 00:15:59 - Fourth Place at the Olympics & Getting Cyber Bullied in France 00:18:23 - One Touch Situations: The Will to Win vs. Being Weak 00:20:04 - The Best Feeling in Fencing: Manifesting a Touch 00:21:44 - Advice to a Younger Eleanor: There Is No Secret Ingredient 00:25:40 - The Man Who Criticized Her Footwork After the Olympics 00:27:22 - Rapid Fire 💬 BEST QUOTES "in the next like two weeks after winning the medal, I was almost like the shell of a human. I was so overwhelmed and it was so hard to process what had happened, because that had always been my dream." "the losses that hurt the most are the ones where you just lost because you were just your will wasn't as strong as the other person." "you actually don't have any control over the result at all. By the time you get to the tournament, you just have to go fence, and what is going to happen is already going to happen." 🔗 CONNECT WITH ELEANOR 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eleamorgue/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH THE FIE 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencing_fie/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fie_fencing ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJEy8aBnqDymMIcJCh72gMw 🌐: https://fie.org/ 🎵 Music Credits: Antidepresseur by Patchworker f.k.a. [friendzoned] | https://soundcloud.com/patchworker Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US Thank you for listening! 🔗 Check out FencR 🌐: https://www.fencr.app/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app 🔗 Connect with Us 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast 📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 Prieur USA 🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/

  4. Oct 5

    Sabre Olympian Kaito Streets on Learning from Losses and Chasing Greatness | The Will to Win Ep. 4

    Kaito Streets left Team USA to fence for Japan, where he has both missed and qualified for Olympic Games in the last 10 years. Through the ups, downs, wins and almosts of his career, Kaito's resilience speaks for itself.  The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts. In this episode, you'll discover: • Why Kaito switched from representing the US to Japan, and what it meant to him in pride, perception, and belonging between two cultures • What it actually feels like to stand on the Olympic strip: the shaking, the fear, the joy, and why Kaito says he'll never feel anything like it again • How Kaito nearly retired after Tokyo, nearly retired again after missing Paris, and what finally convinced him to chase LA 2028 • The 'win or learn' philosophy behind starting the Tokyo International Fencing Academy, and why Kaito says keeping elite knowledge to himself would be selfish Kaito Streets is an American-Japanese Olympian who competed for Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Games and is a founding coach of the Tokyo International Fencing Academy. He is one of the more recognizable faces growing fencing internationally through competition, content creation, and coaching. This podcast was produced in collaboration with the International Fencing Federation (FIE). 💬 Have you ever had to choose between two identities, in sport, work, or life? Drop your take in the comments. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:15 - Comedy, Content Creation & Athlete Persona 00:06:09 - The Switch: Why He Left Team USA for Japan 00:10:02 - Adapting to Japanese Culture and Earning His Spot 00:11:54 - Tokyo Olympics: Pure Human Emotion on the Strip 00:16:47 - COVID, Family Absent & Nearly Retiring After Tokyo 00:18:35 - Missing Paris & Considering Retirement Again at 30 00:19:22 - Why He Chose to Come Back for LA 2028 00:20:16 - The Only Real Way to Fail 00:21:25 - The World Championship Bronze Medal Match 00:25:07 - Win or Learn: The Mindset That Keeps Him Going 00:27:10 - Starting the Tokyo International Fencing Academy 00:28:43 - Teaching as a Renewal of Passion 00:32:49 - Growing Fencing Into a Mainstream Sport 00:35:58 - Rapid Fire & Closing Thoughts 💬 BEST QUOTES "When I got to the Olympics, I've never felt emotion like that before. I was, nervous, scared, happy, like everything you could think of in one." [00:13:08] "I think you learn the most in your losses." [00:26:01] "The will to win is learned after a loss." [00:38:53] 🔗 CONNECT WITH KAITO 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaitostreets/?hl=en ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@kaitocstreets⁩  CONNECT WITH TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FENCING ACADEMY 🌐: https://tifa-fencing.jp/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tokyointlfencingacademy/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH THE FIE 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencing_fie/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fie_fencing ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJEy8aBnqDymMIcJCh72gMw 🌐: https://fie.org/ Thank you for listening! 🔗 Check out FencR 🌐: https://www.fencr.app/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app 🔗 Connect with Us 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast 📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 Prieur USA 🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/

  5. Sep 28

    Olympic Bronze Medalist and World #1 Mohamed Elsayed: Trusting Yourself When It Counts Most | The Will to Win Ep. 3

    How powerful is manifestation? In Paris 2024, Mohamed Elsayed won bronze, and then finally opened a video that he recorded on his phone in 2021. The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts. In this episode, you'll discover: • How Mohamed Elsayed turned years of one-touch losses in quarterfinals into the exact skills that won him an Olympic medal, and why he says he didn't know those losses were building something the whole time. • The multi-year promise: why Mo recorded a message to himself as an anonymous spectator at Tokyo 2021, never re-watched it, and what happened when he finally opened it the day after Paris. • What "just be yourself" actually means at the Olympic level, Mo's take on full preparation followed by total self-trust, and why that's the opposite of laziness. • How to mentally move on from a devastating loss: Mo's framework for processing failure, detaching from results, and showing up ready two weeks later. Mohamed Elsayed is an Egyptian Olympic bronze medalist in épée fencing from the Paris 2024 Games, one of only two Egyptian Olympic fencing medalists, and a fencer who has built his career on mastering the one-touch moment under maximum pressure. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Introduction: Who Is Mohamed Elsayed 00:01:34 - The Art of the One-Touch Moment 00:03:32 - Trusting Yourself When It Counts Most 00:06:03 - There Is Always a Comeback 00:08:47 - The Video Promise: Tokyo 2021 to Paris 2024 00:11:53 - Goal Setting, Wish Lists, and Becoming a Legend 00:14:10 - How to Respond to Devastating Loss 00:17:09 - Learning to Move On 00:21:13 - Dealing With the Pressure of Expectations 00:25:44 - What 'Just Be Yourself' Actually Means 00:27:35 - Trusting Yourself When Everything Works Against You 00:29:57 - Flow State: What Freedom Feels Like on the Strip 00:32:41 - Living the Dream From the Inside Out 00:35:26 - Rapid Fire: Peace, Poker Face, and Who Mo Is Off the Strip 00:37:27 - Closing 💬 BEST QUOTES "I didn't know that every touch I lost was building up to a greater moment." [00:02:52] "I think it was just, a pure moment of me promising myself…I'm talking to my future self about me being there, and, I just have to wait." [00:10:03] "The will to win is yours." [00:37:32] 🔗 CONNECT WITH MO 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_supermooo/ ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@iamsupermooo 🔗 CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G1LSu4ubtqTUH17nfFs0f 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast ▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 CONNECT WITH THE FIE 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencing_fie/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fie_fencing ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJEy8aBnqDymMIcJCh72gMw 🌐: https://fie.org/ Thank you for listening! 🔗 Check out FencR 🌐: https://www.fencr.app/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app 🔗 Connect with Us 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast 📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 Prieur USA 🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/

  6. Sep 21

    Hong Kong Fencer Kaylin Hsieh on Winning Gold, Fear of Losing, and the Olympic Question | The Will to Win Ep. 2

    Kaylin Hsieh won her first Grand Prix gold sick, alone, and with nothing to lose, and came to share some of the ups and downs of her professional athletic career. The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts. In this episode, you'll discover: • How Kaylin used illness at the Doha Grand Prix to strip away pressure and fence with complete freedom, and why that mindset produced her best result • Why she deliberately documents wins and losses publicly, and the deeper reason elite athletes staying silent is a disservice to the next generation • What it actually feels like to abandon your entire fencing identity and rebuild from zero under a new coaching system, and how that process led to a breakthrough • How she answered the hardest question in elite Olympic sport: is it all worth it if there's no Olympic medal at the end? Kaylin Hsieh is a Hong Kong national team fencer, U17 World Champion, Grand Prix gold medalist, and NCAA champion who has represented Hong Kong for years on the international stage while navigating the pressure of elite competition Olympic qualification. She is one of the most transparent voices in fencing today. This podcast was produced in collaboration with the International Fencing Federation (FIE). ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Introduction: Who Is Kaylin Hsieh? 00:01:23 - The Doha Grand Prix 00:03:41 - What Being Sick Taught Her About Acceptance 00:06:21 - How Experience Compounds and The Process Mindset 00:08:35 - What Would You Tell Your Younger Self? 00:11:03 - Transparency in Elite Sport 00:13:38 - Finding Joy as the Key to Winning 00:16:50 - Is It All Worth It If There's No Olympic Medal? 00:17:13 - The Moment That Changed Everything 00:18:37 - Coming Back to Hong Kong 00:22:16 - Grieving the Conventional Life She Didn't Live 00:24:36 - The Fear She's Never Talked About in an Interview 00:25:15 - Learning to Let Go of Her Old Self 00:28:56 - Rapid Fire 💬 BEST QUOTES "I knew that I may not be able to perform at my best, but I knew that I could overcome this." "I had to let go of who I was and to become someone that I haven't been before." "Even if I fail, I get to show others that it's okay to go for your dreams." "My biggest fear was just just losing. But like it's normal... if you don't lose, how would you win?" "The will to win comes within you." 🔗 CONNECT WITH KAYLIN 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylinhsieh/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kaylinhsieh 🤝 LinkedIn: https://hk.linkedin.com/in/kaylinhsieh ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@kaylinhsieh⁩  🔗 CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G1LSu4ubtqTUH17nfFs0f 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast ▶️ YouTube: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 CONNECT WITH THE FIE 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencing_fie/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fie_fencing ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJEy8aBnqDymMIcJCh72gMw 🌐: https://fie.org/ Thank you for listening! 🔗 Check out FencR 🌐: https://www.fencr.app/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app 🔗 Connect with Us 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast 📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 Prieur USA 🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/

  7. Sep 18

    Pentathlon Olympian and World Champion turned NCAA Fencing Head Coach at Duke: Omar Elgeziry | Direct Elimination Ep. 35

    Duke Fencing Head Coach Omar Elgeziry on why there's no luck in college fencing, and the meditation secret behind every Duke practice. The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts. In this episode, you'll discover: • Why Omar believes college fencing structurally eliminates luck, and how the round-robin format changes everything an international fencer thinks they know • The guided visualization and meditation sessions Omar runs at the start and end of every Duke practice, and why he keeps doing it even when athletes fall asleep • Genuinely contrarian college recruiting advice: why Omar tells athletes to ignore big names and championships and choose the school that makes them grow as a person • How Stanford joining the ACC and the men's and women's championship split are reshaping the competitive landscape of NCAA fencing Omar Elgeziry is an Olympian and World Champion modern pentathlete, fencer, and current head fencing coach at Duke University. He is also one of the few coaches in the country who has led programs across three different NCAA regions. If you're a high school fencer or a fencing parent navigating the recruiting process, drop your biggest question below — Omar's answer at 00:09:48 might change how you're thinking about your search. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:21 - Who Is Omar Elgeziry? 00:03:00 - From Olympic Pentathlete to College Fencing Coach 00:05:22 - Why College Fencing Has No Luck 00:06:23 - Growing Fencing in the NCAA 00:09:08 - What Makes Duke Fencing Different? 00:09:48 - Real College Recruiting Advice 00:13:02 - NCAA Changes: Stanford to ACC, Men's & Women's Split 00:15:14 - The Most Important Quality in a College Fencer 00:19:01 - Visualization & Meditation: Omar's Secret Coaching Weapon 00:24:48 - One-Light Answers 00:29:06 - Outro 💬 BEST QUOTES "I came to this country because I was following my guts. I just wanted to live the American dream." [00:03:04] "There is no there's no luck in college fencing." [00:05:24] "Go for the school that will make you grow. Don't just go for a school that's a big name, or that will win a championship, or it's just going to be easy for you to win. Just challenge yourself." [00:10:51] "If you see it, [and] you make it happen in your mind. It actually will happen in reality." [00:21:45] Theme Song Written and Performed by Colin Campbell 🔗 Connect with Colin 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/campbelltunes/?hl=en 🔗 Connect with Omar Elgeziry 🌐: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-elgeziry-oly-98a65b12b 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omarelgeziry/ 🔗 Connect with Duke Fencing 🌐: https://goduke.com/sports/fencing 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dukefen/ Thank you for listening! 🔗 Check out FencR 🌐: https://www.fencr.app/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app 🔗 Connect with Us 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast 📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 Prieur USA 🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/

  8. Sep 14

    Áron Szilágyi: Back-to-Back-to-Back Olympic Champion Who Says Losing at Paris Olympics Was Actually Liberating | The Will to Win Ep. 1

    3× Individual Olympic champion Áron Szilágyi on the Achilles injury that changed everything and why losing at Paris felt like freedom. The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts. In this episode, you'll discover: • What Szilágyi is looking forward to in his upcoming competitions and seasons • How his first career injury forced him to rebuild his identity around small wins like walking and footwork, not gold medals • What it felt like to finally lose at the Olympics, and why 'liberating' is the word he chose • The one sentence that defines his entire competitive philosophy: what the will to win actually means when the desire runs out Áron Szilágyi is the only sabre fencer in history to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020). He is a three-time World Champion, a six-time European Champion, and also the recipient of the FIE Fair Play Award.  This podcast was produced in collaboration with the International Fencing Federation (FIE). ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 - Introduction 01:31 - First Career Injury: Achilles Surgery 04:03 - The Mental Side of Rehab 05:07 - Preparing for the Body You No Longer Know 07:50 - Mindset Going Into Worlds 13:00 - Paris 2024: Inside the One-Minute Break 15:32 - What Losing at the Olympics Actually Taught Him 17:00 - Processing Failure as a Team 22:25 - Which Olympic Gold Felt Most Impossible 24:18 - The Fair Play Award 29:00 - Rapid Fire 33:53 - Closing and Where to Follow Áron 💬 QUOTES "Every day, every morning I had to choose to do this. So I had to talk myself into going to the physio, doing the work and getting better."  "I learned much more [from this loss] than from the Olympic titles I won. And that’s always true with failures, I guess." "After I accepted it, it was a liberating feeling that I don't have to be the person, you know, who wins the Olympic Games. No, I've been to an Olympics where I was beaten, and that's fine. That's good actually." "I had this kind of imposter syndrome after London that I felt like I shouldn't have won this because I'm not Olympic Champion material." "The will to win is to be able to do what's necessary." 🔗 CONNECT WITH ÁRON 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/szilagyi_aron/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aronszilagyi_official 🤝 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/szilagyi-aron/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH THE FIE 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencing_fie/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fie_fencing ▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJEy8aBnqDymMIcJCh72gMw 🌐: https://fie.org/ Thank you for listening! 🔗 Check out FencR 🌐: https://www.fencr.app/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fencr.app 🔗 Connect with Us 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple: https://link.me/directelimination 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directelimination/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@directeliminationpodcast 📺 Subscribe for more episodes: youtube.com/@DirectElimination 🔗 Prieur USA 🌐: https://www.prieurusa.com/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prieur_usa/

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About

The Fencing Podcast of All Fencing Podcasts.The world of elite fencing's most relatable duo — Ari Simmons and Stephen Ewart of Team USA — team up to provide next-level access to life as a fencer as it unfolds. The two teammates drop insights about their journeys to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. They also endlessly rag on each other as friends do, chat about their sport and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them.Topics they explore:The mindset of world-class athletesFailure, resilience, and comeback storiesNCAA & Olympic fencing insightsThe role of social media, culture, and community in sportsWhy athletes do what they do — and what keeps them fightingSubscribe for episodes that deliver real talk, laughs, and lessons — straight from the fencing strip to your headphones.

Information

  • Creator
    Direct Elimination Podcast
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    49
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Direct Elimination Podcast
  • Show Website
    Direct Elimination Podcast

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