MEINHARDT Gerek

General
FAMILY AFFAIR
He is married to Lee Kiefer, who also competes in fencing for the United States of America. The pair married in 2019. "We primarily train against each other, which is why it means so much to us when either of us does well. We're so proud of each other and what we've been able to accomplish thus far, just pushing each other every day to try and reach for more, to become better fencers and better people. That's so important to us." (fencing.net, 14 Feb 2020; sports.yahoo.com, 11 Jan 2020; teamusa.org, 15 Aug 2019)

FURTHER EDUCATION
Between 2013 and 2015 he studied for a master's degree in business administration at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, United States of America. In 2020 he began studying medicine at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, United States of America. "I did some shadowing and speaking with the physicians about what their lives were like, pros and cons and eventually decided, with their help, that I shouldn't worry about making a change too late in my life, even though I was going to be a non-traditional student and a bit older than my classmates." (fie.org, 15 Jan 2021; LinkedIn profile, 22 Aug 2016)

He became the first US male fencer to win a medal at the world championships when he claimed bronze in individual foil at the 2010 edition of the tournament in Paris, France. Along with Race Imboden, Alexander Massialas, and Miles Chamley-Watson, he was part of the first US men's foil team to win gold at the world championships by securing victory in 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. (SportsDeskOnline, 09 Mar 2021; alexandermassialas.com, 23 Jan 2021; usafencing.org, 23 Jul 2019)

At age 18 years and 17 days, he was the youngest male fencer from any nation to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He also became the youngest male fencer to have represented the United States of America at the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing. (SportsDeskOnline, 12 Jul 2018; sfgate.com, 14 Aug 2008)