AKSAMIT Monica

Personal Information

Residence Brooklyn, NY, USA

Occupation Athlete, Cleaner, Coach, Model

Languages English, Polish, Russian, Spanish

Higher education Human Movement Studies - Penn State University: State College, PA, USA

License number 18021990000

Club

Upcoming Events

Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? She began fencing at age nine at the Polish-American Fencing School in Linden, NJ, United States of America.

Why this sport? Her mother worked at the local credit union and Janusz Mlynek, her first coach, was a customer. "They talked about fencing and that's how it all started. My mum found out that it was a great way for a scholarship. They handed me a sword. They said, 'Hit the other kid'. I did. Everybody clapped and cheered. I was like, 'I don't understand what's going on. But, okay. This sounds like a great time'."

Club / Team Manhattan Fencing Center: New York, NY, USA

Name of coach Yury Galman

Training Regime She undertakes her strength and conditioning training in New Jersey, United States of America.

Handedness Right

General Interest

Nicknames Mon (Facebook profile, 01 Jun 2017)

Hobbies Travelling, cooking, reading, movies, music, yoga, running, photography, spending time with her dogs. (Instagram profile, 07 Apr 2021; mpgsport.com, 07 Mar 2020; Facebook page, 17 Jun 2017)

Memorable sporting achievement Winning team bronze in sabre at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (SportsDeskOnline, 03 May 2021; tokyo2020.org, 18 Nov 2020; scottamyx.com, 11 Mar 2019)

Most influential person in career Her mother. "She came to this country [from Poland] and left her entire family back home. She finished college here and she's now a business owner. She battled cancer as well. She's the strongest person that I know." (mpgsport.com, 07 Mar 2020)

Injuries She wore a back brace to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro having fractured a vertebrae in the build up to the Games. Afterwards she took a three-and-a-half month break from training and competing. (tokyo2020.org, 18 Nov 2020; olympics.com, 05 Nov 2020; Athlete YouTube channel, 31 May 2018)

She required surgery on her knee in 2012. (onwardstate.com, 09 Sep 2015)

Sporting philosophy / motto "Stubborn is a quality most people don't really want. But I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for my stubbornness." (tokyo2020.org, 18 Nov 2020)

Ambitions To win individual and team medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Athlete YouTube channel, 31 May 2018; cutimes.com, 09 Sep 2016)

Other information FINANCIAL STRUGGLES
She has taken on various jobs to financially support her fencing career. She hosts a podcast called On The Fence that includes interviews with Olympic athletes. In addition, she coaches fencing lessons and has worked as a model and for her mother's cleaning company. In September 2019 she also started a crowdfunding appeal to assist her ambition of competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. A total of 31,000 USD was raised and, in July 2020, she was awarded a grant from the COVID Athlete Assistance Fund by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. "The financial aspect has probably been the biggest challenge. My parents are immigrants and have never been wealthy. This made it difficult to afford training, travel and equipment. I had to swallow my pride and fundraise to be able to travel and fulfil my hopes of qualifying for the Rio Olympics and now as well for the Tokyo Olympics. I hope to be able to make fencing a more popular sport and raise awareness to the issue that Olympians don't receive nearly enough funding. I've been able to make huge steps, but I still have a long way to go on both of those goals.” (Instagram profile, 30 Apr 2021; TikTok profile, 22 Nov 2020; tokyo2020.org, 18 Nov 2020; open.spotify.com, 20 Apr 2020; mpgsport.com, 07 Mar 2020)

RIO SURPRISE
She was selected as the reserve for the US sabre team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, but was subbed in to compete in the bronze medal match against Italy. She went on to help the team win bronze. "Sitting on the sidelines, it kind of seemed like a dream but the entire time, while I wanted to fence, I thought, 'If I don't fence, it's okay'. Everyone felt responsible as you always do [for losing in the semifinals to the Russian Federation]. But I didn't feel that guilt and responsibility because I wasn't out there so I was the most positive out of everybody. All these things are just, kind of wild, because accomplishing your biggest dream is just such a weird feeling. I wanted this for so long. There were times I really didn't think it was happening." (tokyo2020.org, 18 Nov 2020)

POLISH HERITAGE
She has Polish grandparents and spent time living with them in Poland as a child. She went to pre-school in Poland and is still fluent in Polish. (Athlete YouTube channel, 22 Oct 2017; physiclo.com, 13 Aug 2016; statecollege.com, 05 Aug 2016)