September 1, 2025
This is just the latest scandal involving USA Fencing in recent years.
Curtis McDowald, one of the only Black fencers on USA Fencing’s 2021 Olympic squad that competed at the Tokyo Olympics, was declared ineligible to compete for a period of five years on Aug. 29 after the organization determined that he violated its codes of conduct multiple times.
According to USA Today, this action follows his temporary suspension in 2023 after allegations of his misconduct were made known to the governing body of the United States Olympic fencing team.
His behavior, at that time, including at least one report that he kicked a freestanding banner, put the team’s chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics in jeopardy during the Pan-American Senior Games.
The suspension of McDowell, who will become eligible for retirement once his suspension ends, is just the latest scandal that has involved USA Fencing.
As The New York Times reported, a few months ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, international saber fencing was plagued by questions regarding refereeing, accusations of preferential treatment, and concerns from the sport’s top players and coaches that the web of connections in the sport plays an outsized role in determining who competes.
USA Fencing, in particular, suspended two of its officials for communicating with each other during an Olympic qualifying tournament in California.
This was preceded by sexual assault allegations against épéeist Alen Hadžić in 2021 and an open investigation of him by the US Center for SafeSport, the sport’s independent watchdog organization.
Despite those issues, USA Fencing allowed him to compete in 2021’s Tokyo Olympics as an alternate, a move that drew considerable outrage and comparisons to the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal that had engulfed the Women’s USA Gymnastics team.
More recently, USA Fencing found itself at the center of a controversy, when 31-year-old Stephanie Turner refused to compete against Red Sullivan, a 19-year-old trans woman, allegedly telling her, “I respect you a lot, but this is a women’s event. I am a woman and you’re a man. I will not fence you.”
Turner’s refusal to compete against Sullivan put the issue in front of Congress.
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