Ivan Lee
Peter Westbrook Foundation Fencers Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Yury Gelman[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Now coaching | Long Island University (2019–23) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Ivan James Lee (born March 31, 1981) is an American Olympic
Fencing career
1994–2014; competitive career
Lee was born and raised in
He received a full athletic scholarship to
Lee was a member of the 2001 U.S. Junior World Sabre team.
Lee was a member of the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/IvanKeeth.jpg/180px-IvanKeeth.jpg)
After failing to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Team, Lee retired in 2008.[19] Prior to his retirement, in 2008 he won his fifth U.S. Senior Championship, a title he had also won in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2006, but his poor results in international tournaments kept him from making the US Olympic Team.[25][26][20] Lee was inducted into the US Fencing Association Hall of Fame in 2014.[27][28] He has been a competitive veteran fencer, and won two consecutive national titles in Vet-40 men’s saber.[29]
2015–23; college coach and USA Fencing Chair
Lee was the Head Coach of the Women's Fencing Team of Long Island University from March 2019 until December 1, 2023, when he resigned.[30][31] It was his first coaching position, and he said: "I love coaching. It’s very rewarding."[32] At the 2021 NCAA National Championship, his freshman fencer Laura Fekete -- whom he had recruited -- won the gold medal in épée, the first NCAA fencing championship in school history.[29][32][33][7][34] In 2022 she won the bronze medal.[35][29][32] Fekete said: "Ivan helped me with everything he could. He was always by my side."[34]
Lee was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of
2023–present; suspension and arrest
Lee was suspended by USA Fencing on December 22, 2023, for his alleged conduct that would constitute a violation of the
Lee was arrested in February 2024 on forcible touching, sexual abuse, and harassment charges.[36] They related to an incident in November 2023 in a college gym while he was the Head Coach of the Women's Fencing Team of Long Island University.[30][37]
Professional and volunteer work
Police officer
Lee worked as a police officer in the New York City Police Department (NYPD) from July 2008 until February 2022.[32][14][38] He spent his first six years on the police force in the NYPD transit bureau, and his last seven years as a physical training instructor at the Police Academy.[29]
Other
He also served as the Fencing Commissioner for the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) from 2008 to 2019.[9] The PSAL is a scholastic athletic program that coordinates sports competitions for New York City public high schools.[39]
He was a board member of the
He founded a fencing club called Naviblue Sports in New York.
Personal
Ivan is the only child of Wesley Desmond Lee and Cynthia Lee.[44] His mother, a retired teacher, heard from a fellow teacher who was the mother of future Olympic medalists Erinn Smart and Keeth Smart, that her children participated in a non-profit fencing program for children in Manhattan, the PWF.[19] Mrs. Lee talked her son into trying it.[citation needed] Lee initially instead wanted to play baseball in high school and beyond.[6][45] But his father, an auto mechanic and pastor of Ebenezer Missionary Chapel in Brooklyn, convinced him to take fencing seriously because of what he saw as the college scholarship possibility in fencing.[2][46]
Lee and his wife, Shameeka Waddell Lee, have two children.[44]
Awards and honors
- 2004 U.S. Olympic Team member[24]
- Five-time Division 1 Men's Sabre National Champion (2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008)[20][26]
- 2021, 2022, 2023 Veteran-40 Men's Sabre National Champion[citation needed]
- 2003 Pan American Men's Sabre Champion[2]
- 2003 Pan American Men's Sabre Team Champion[2]
- 2001, 2002 NCAA Men's Sabre Champion[18][17]
- 2001 USOC Male Athlete of the Year, Fencing[20]
- US Fencing Association Hall of Fame inductee, class of 2014[28]
See also
- List of USFA Division I National Champions
- Alen Hadzic, suspended American fencer
References
- ^ a b "Ivan Lee". Olympedia.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "New York Fencer Getting Chance to Compete at Home". The New York Times. June 13, 2004.
- ^ Josh Peter (February 29, 2024). "Ex-US Olympic fencer Ivan Lee arrested on forcible touching, sexual abuse, harassment charges". USA TODAY. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Rondeaux, Candace (March 19, 2002). "School Champ Won't Be Foiled". New York Daily News.
- ^ a b Williams, Lena (May 17, 2001). "Fencing; Around the World With Saber in Hand". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c "Jamaica Resident Is Athens-Bound". QNS News. August 12, 2004.
- ^ a b Heather Shayne Blakeslee (September 30, 2020). "Culture Files // Officer of the Peace: An Olympic fencer turned police officer makes a plea for understanding". Root Quarterly.
- ^ Jomantas, Nicole (February 28, 2014). "African-American Fencers Aim to Make History in Rio". USA Fencing.
- ^ a b c Wendell, Bryan (June 6, 2023). "2023 USA Fencing Election Results: Lee, Lehfeldt, Salem Win At-Large Seats on Board of Directors". USA Fencing.
- ^ Ron Wilson (March 17, 2011). "Have sabre, will travel". Democrat and Chronicle.
- ^ Rebecca Leung (October 6, 2003). "En Garde". CBS News.
- ^ a b "Three Former St. John's Fencers Selected to U.S. Olympic Team". St. John's University Athletics. March 31, 2004.
- ^ Harris, Christopher (August 12, 2016). "Blades of Glory: Meet Our Black Olympian Fencers". Ebony.
- ^ a b c "Ivan Lee - Head Coach - Women's Fencing Coaches". Long Island University.
- ^ "Boy's Fencing Invitational Tournament". Brooklyn Technical High School.
- ^ Michael Edwards (2019). "Class Notes". Tech Times. p. 23.
- ^ a b "2001 NCAA Championships Results". ncaa.escrimeresults.com.
- ^ a b "2002 NCAA Championships Results". ncaa.escrimeresults.com.
- ^ a b c d Jomantas, Nicole (July 26, 2013). "Ivan Lee Shares Fencing, Choices with the Next Generation". USA Fencing.
- ^ a b c d Wendell, Bryan (September 8, 2023). "Olympian Ivan Lee Elected as Chair of USA Fencing Board of Directors". USA Fencing.
- ^ Jeff Bukantz (Fall 2003). "High Expectations, Higher Returns; at Pan Am Games," American Fencing.
- ^ Robbins, Liz (July 8, 2004). "OLYMPICS; Sibling Rivalry Foils the Obstacles". The New York Times.
- ^ Jeff Bukantz (September 30, 2022). "Rules & Referees". American Fencing. p. 26.
- ^ a b "Ivan Lee," Olympics.com.
- ^ Grant, T. P. (July 22, 2008). "US Men's Sabre Ready For 2008 Olympics, Without Lee". Bleacher Report.
- ^ a b ""U.S. Fencing Division I Individual National Medalists by Event"" (PDF).
- ^ "Ivan Lee Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
- ^ a b Josh Peter (December 23, 2023). "USA Fencing suspends board chair Ivan Lee, who subsequently resigns from position". USA TODAY.
- ^ a b c d Wendell, Bryan (November 10, 2022). "USA Fencing Welcomes Two New Vice Chairs to Board of Directors". USA Fencing.
- ^ a b c d e Josh Peter (December 22, 2023). "USA Fencing suspends board chair Ivan Lee, who subsequently resigns from position". USA TODAY.
- ^ a b "Ex-US Olympic fencer Ivan Lee arrested on forcible touching, sexual abuse, harassment charges". USA TODAY.
- ^ a b c d Elfman, Lois (April 15, 2021). "LIU establishes itself as a national power in fencing". New York Amsterdam News.
- ^ Adam Rubin (December 4, 2023). "Laura Fekete Earns Third Straight All-America Honor after NCAA Championships Success". Long Island University.
- ^ a b Andrew Scarpaci (April 9, 2021). "Fencer Laura Fekete Becomes Sharks' First NCAA National Champion". The Tide.
- ^ "Fencing Olympian Wins Title at Summer Nationals". Long Island University. July 16, 2021.
- ^ "Olympian Ivan Lee arrested for alleged sexual abuse". xklsv News. February 29, 2024.
- ^ Pena, Rafael (February 29, 2024). "Former US Olympic Fencer Ivan Lee Arrested on Charges Of Sexual Abuse". Black Enterprise.
- ^ "Ivan J. Lee". 50-a.org.
- ^ "Public Schools Athletic League". NYC Public Schools.
- ^ "Board of Trustees". Rosalyn Yalow Charter School.
- ^ Ken Slentz (June 16, 2014). "Charter Schools: Initial Applications and Charters Authorized by the Board of Regents", The New York State Education Department.
- ^ "Our Founder". Navibluesports.
- ^ "End of Year 2022 by USA Fencing". American Fencing. December 21, 2022.
- ^ a b "Ebenezer Missionary History". Ebenezer Missionary Chapel.
- ^ "SJU Fencer Ivan Lee Wins Junior World Cup". St. John's University Athletics. November 29, 2000.
- ^ Saul, Stephanie (October 17, 2022). "Fencing Can Be Six-Figure Expensive, but It Wins in College Admissions; How niche sports offer a pathway to the Ivy League and other elite schools". The New York Times.
External links
- Peter Westbrook Foundation
- Cindy Bent (May 16, 2001). "U.S. Fencing's Lee defeats 2000 Olympic Champion to Win Bronze at World Cup", U.S. Fencing Association (press release) Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- U.S. Fencing Media: Ivan Lee