MASSIALAS Alexander

Personal Information

Residence San Francisco, CA, USA

Occupation Athlete

Languages English, Mandarin

Higher education Mechanical Engineering - Stanford University: United States

License number 20041994001

Club

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Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? He began fencing at age seven at his father's club in San Francisco, CA, United States of America.

Why this sport? "My father was an Olympian in fencing. When he set up his own club, I wanted to start right away."

Club / Team Massialas Foundation: San Francisco, CA, USA

Name of coach Greg Massialas [club, national, father], USA

Handedness Right

General Interest

Nicknames Alex (fencing.net, 18 May 2011)

Hobbies Spending time with friends, going to the beach, watching TV. (alexandermassialas.com, 23 Jan 2021)

Memorable sporting achievement Winning two medals at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (digitaljournal.com, 07 Dec 2019)

Most influential person in career His father Greg, and coach Dean Hinton. (usafencing.org, 11 Oct 2017; Athlete, 28 Nov 2011)

Hero / Idol US fencer Gerek Meinhardt. (Instagram profile, 04 Sep 2019)

Injuries A positive COVID-19 test prevented him from competing at the 2022 World Cup event in Cairo, Egypt. (pianetascherma.com, 24 Feb 2022)

He sustained a wrist injury and missed some training in the build-up to the 2016 Olympic Games. (olympics.nbcsports.com, 14 May 2020)

Sporting philosophy / motto "I don't like losing in anything and that means board games, video games, and fencing." (digitaljournal.com, 07 Dec 2019)

Awards and honours In 2018 he was presented with the Alumni Achievement Award by the Chinese American International School. (cais.org, 12 Jun 2018)

Milestones Along with Race Imboden, Gerek Meinhardt, and Miles Chamley-Watson, he was part of the first US men's foil team to win gold at the world championships. They claimed victory at the 2019 edition of the tournament in Budapest, Hungary. (SportsDeskOnline, 09 Mar 2021; alexandermassialas.com, 23 Jan 2021)

At age 18 years and 96 days on the first day of competition, he was the youngest male US athlete in any sport to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 09 Jun 2020; teamusa.org, 22 Aug 2016)

Famous relatives His father Greg competed in foil fencing at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He has also coached the US men's national foil team and was a fencing referee at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. His younger sister Sabrina represented the United States of America in team foil at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (sports.yahoo.com, 14 May 2020; SportsDeskOnline, 16 May 2024; thenationalherald.com, 14 Aug 2016; fencingusa.com, 01 Jan 2014)

Ambitions To win gold at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (nbcbayarea.com, 24 Jan 2024)

Other information HERITAGE
His father was born in Crete, Greece, and moved to the United States of America at age 10. His mother Chen Chwan-Hui grew up in Chinese Taipei. His Chinese name is Chen Hai-Hsiang. (Instagram profile, 02 Jun 2019; teamusa.org, 17 Aug 2014; mercurynews.com, 21 Sep 2012)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2022 he launched the Massialas Fencing Tour, offering clinics on fencing skills and character development for youngsters. "A personal goal of mine has been to reach more young athletes and find unique ways to inspire the next generation of fencers." In 2022 he was also elected as a member of the Athletes Commission of the International Fencing Federation [FIE]. "I wanted to join the Athletes Commission because I think it's important that the athletes have a seat at the decision-making table. I believe I am well-positioned to advocate for the needs of the athletes." (usafencing.org, 29 Jul 2022; prnewswire.com, 21 Apr 2022)