FERJANI Fares

Personal Information

Residence New York, NY, USA

Occupation Athlete

Languages Arabic, English, French

Higher education Finance - St. John's University: New York, NY, USA

License number 22071997000

Club

Upcoming Events

Sport Specific Information

Why this sport? "Why do I like fencing? All my family is in fencing. It's like water to me."

Club / Team Manhattan Fencing Center: United States

Name of coach Yury Gelman

Handedness Right

General Interest

Hero / Idol Italian fencer Aldo Montano. (olympic.org, 19 Oct 2020)

Injuries He withdrew from his final match at the 2022 North American Cup event in Minneapolis, MN, United States of America, due to a back injury. (Facebook page, 10 Oct 2022; usafencing.org, 09 Oct 2022)

Sporting philosophy / motto "Our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." (Facebook profile, 14 Jun 2017)

Awards and honours He won the Excalibur Award at the 2023 St. John's University Athletic Awards in New York, NY, United States of America. (St. John's Fencing Instagram profile, 02 May 2023)

He received the 2019 Giorgio Santelli award for fencing from St. John's University in the United States of America. (Instagram profile, 07 May 2019)

Famous relatives His older brother Mohamed Ayoub Ferjani has represented Tunisia in fencing and competed in individual foil at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2021 Grand Prix event in Doha, Qatar. His younger brother Ahmed has represented Tunisia, competing in sabre disciplines at the world championships in 2019, 2022 and 2023, and has also competed at collegiate level in the United States of America for St. John's University. His father Salah has served as a fencing referee at international level, while his mother, uncle, and cousin have all competed in the sport at an elite level. (SportsDeskOnline, 14 May 2024; redstormsports.com, 27 Mar 2022; Ahmed Ferjani Instagram profile, 14 Mar 2022; FIE YouTube channel, 18 Nov 2019; china.org.cn, 14 Aug 2014; eurofencing.info, 03 Apr 2013)

Ambitions To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (Instagram profile, 08 May 2024)

Other information RIO OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
Two years after placing fourth in individual sabre at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games [YOG] in Nanjing, People's Republic of China, he made his senior Olympic debut at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I met a lot of amazing people [in Nanjing] and made some friends that I'm still speaking with to this day [talking in 2020]. I remember being invited to a breakfast with some other YOG athletes and IOC president [and German fencer] Thomas Bach, when he told me something very nice. He said, 'You have talent, and I think you have a nice future'. That was interesting for me. I think any small words from any big champion can help a young athlete. If you say one or two nice words to them, it can change their lives. The 2016 Olympic Games were very fun for me. I fenced against a role model of mine, Aldo Montano, and I was very proud of myself that I showed some qualities. I was young and I really didn't know what I was doing. I had no great technique and I was just enjoying myself." (olympic.org, 19 Oct 2020)

STUDYING IN THE US
In 2020 he began studying for a master's degree in international business at St. John's University in New York, NY, United States of America. Three years earlier he started a bachelor's in finance at the same university and began training with coach Yury Gelman. "After the 2016 Olympic Games I spoke with Yury Gelman, and then I moved to New York. I started studying at St. John's, and then it was a big difference. The practice was different. These guys do a lot of footwork. Everything counts, each detail counts. I think for me, it's just great that I moved there because I've jumped to another level." (LinkedIn profile, 08 Sep 2020; FIE YouTube channel, 18 Nov 2019)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
He is a USA Fencing certified referee. (member.usafencing.org, 12 Mar 2019)