On Sunday, February 17, Justin Haddad, a 16 year old teenager from Bethesda, Maryland, won the title of national Junior Olympics fencing champion. The championship is the culminating national fencing event of the season for cadets, who are fencers under age 17, and juniors, who are fencers under age 20, in foil, sabre, and epee. Haddad, competing in cadet men’s epee, was able to clutch the gold medal in a field of more than 300 fencers.
“It’s fantastic to end my cadet career on this,” said Haddad. While Haddad fell short of earning a spot on the U.S. team for the Junior World Championships, he was able to end his season on a high note. “I’ve been struggling this year. I didn’t get a top 32 in any cadet North American Cup this season, although I made top 16 in two junior events, which is supposedly harder,” he said.
Despite Haddad’s recent success, his achievements did not come suddenly. Haddad began to fence in London at seven years old. His family had just moved from the United States, and his parents wanted him to get involved in a sport. Because of the close proximity between a fencing club and their home, his parents decided to enroll him in a class. Initially, the fencing classes was a fun hobby. “In an hour-long class, we’d do 50 minutes where we’d just play games like dodgeball,” he said.
Today, Haddad, a member of the D.C. Fencers Club in Silver Spring, Maryland, attends the Science, Mathematics and Computer Science Magnet program in Montgomery Blair High School. He is a physics and computer science enthusiast and was active in various activities, such as the logic team, before fencing became a full time commitment.
Unlike most people his age, Haddad has made friends from all across the world. “You get to know all the people from your age and your level because they’re at all the same tournaments as you,” Haddad said. “I think that really helped me develop as a fencer to be in the older kids’ group. Because, not only was I doing the harder things and fencing the better fencers, but I’m also — like my mom said — learning to deal with loss.”
In addition to competing on an international level, Haddad also spreads his love of fencing with others. With his dad, he organized a team tournament at the D.C. Fencers Club to raise money for fellow fencers. “All of the proceeds go to a non-profit which my dad created … to help fencers in our area who are trying to reach a certain level but don’t have the funds,” he said.
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Dhruv Pai of Montgomery Blair High School.