Editing Keeth Smart

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}{{Infobox sportsperson
| name           = Keeth Smart
| image            = PWFATHENS.jpg
| image_size       =280px
| alt              = 
| caption          = 2004 Fencing Olympians from [[Peter Westbrook Foundation]], Keeth Smart, [[Erinn Smart]], [[Ivan Lee]], and [[Kamara James]] (l-r)
| birth_name     = 
| fullname       = 
| nickname       = 
| nationality    = 
| residence      = 
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1978|7|29}}
| birth_place    = [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| height         = 6 feet<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.usafencing.org/page/show/700403-keeth-smart|title=Keeth Smart|website=USA Fencing}}</ref>
| weight         = 165 pounds<ref name="auto"/>
| website        = 
| country        = 
| sport          = [[Fencing]]
| event          = [[saber]]
| collegeteam    = [[Saint John's University, New York|St. John's University]]
| club           = [[Manhattan Fencing Center|Manhattan Fencing Club]]<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/sports/olympics/23fencing.html|title=Sticking Together, Up to a Point|first=Joshua|last=Robinson|date=July 23, 2008|work=The New York Times}}</ref>
| team           = 
| coach          = [[Yury Gelman]]<ref name="auto"/>
| retired        = 
| coaching       = 
| worlds         = 
| regionals      = 
| nationals      = 
| olympics       = 
| paralympics    = 
| highestranking = 
| pb             = 
| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's [[Fencing (sport)|fencing]]}}
{{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }}
{{MedalOlympic}}
{{MedalSilver| [[2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Beijing]] | [[Fencing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's team sabre|Sabre Team]]}}  
| show-medals    = yes
}}

'''Keeth Thomas Smart'''<ref name="NYTimes wedding">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E1DF1730F934A15756C0A9619C8B63 "Weddings/Celebrations; Shyra Cooper, Keeth Smart"], ''The New York Times'', 27 May 2007.</ref> (born July 29, 1978) is an American [[saber]] [[fencing (sport)|fencer]], who was the first American to gain the sport's top ranking for males in saber. A three-time Olympian, he won a [[silver medal]] at the [[2008 Olympic Games]] in [[Beijing]] in team sabre.<ref name="databaseolympics">{{cite web|url=http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=SmartKee01 |title=Olympics Statistics: Keeth Smart |accessdate=2012-03-17 |work=databaseolympics.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928125254/http://databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=SmartKee01 |archivedate=2011-09-28 }}</ref><ref name="sports-reference">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sm/keeth-smart-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418023445/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sm/keeth-smart-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-18 |title=Keeth Smart Olympic Results |accessdate=2012-03-12 |work=sports-reference.com}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Smart was born in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and grew up in [[Flatbush, Brooklyn|Flatbush]], Brooklyn, New York City.<ref name="Three Musketeers">Olivesi, Marine. [https://archive.today/20110807223419/http://www.columbiajournalist.org/article.asp?subj=sports&course=RW1_Ojito&id=2373 "'Three Musketeers' from Flatbush say goodbye to high-level fencing"], ''The Columbia Journalist'', 14 September 2008.</ref> His parents were Thomas R. Smart Jr. (a production manager<ref name="Three Musketeers" /> and later an economist) and Liz Smart (a teacher who had come to the United States from Jamaica).<ref name="NYTimes wedding" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/stay-close-pbs-film-spotlights-race-adversity-black-man-s-n1111351|title='Stay Close': PBS film spotlights race, adversity and a black man’s rare success in the sport of fencing|date=February 5, 2020|website=NBC News|author= Curtis Bunn}}</ref> At the urging of his parents, he and his younger sister [[Erinn Smart|Erinn]] began to learn fencing at the [[Peter Westbrook Foundation]],<ref name="Three Musketeers" /> whose founder, [[Summer Olympic Games|Olympic]] sabre bronze-medalist [[Peter Westbrook]], was his mentor.

Smart graduated from [[Brooklyn Technical High School]] in 1996.<ref name="US Fencing 527">[http://www.usfencing.org/athlete/athlete/527 Profile] at US Fencing</ref> He graduated from [[Saint John's University, New York|St. John's University]] in New York City in 2001, majoring in finance.<ref name="US Fencing 527" /> He later received his [[MBA]] from [[Columbia University]] in 2010, and now works as a Senior Vice President for [https://www.chelseapiers.com/fitness/ Chelsea Piers Fitness] which he had joined in 2017.<ref name="Three Musketeers" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://clubsolutionsmagazine.com/2022/03/keeth-smart-the-bottom-line/|title=Keeth Smart: The Bottom Line|first=Rachel|last=Zabonick-Chonko|date=March 30, 2022|website=Club Solutions Magazine}}</ref>

==Fencing career==
Smart's fencing coach was [[Yury Gelman]].<ref name="auto"/>

During college, Smart was the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] sabre champion in 1997 and 1999, and took second place in 2001.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/90866|title=Olympedia – Keeth Smart|website=www.olympedia.org}}</ref>

He was a member of the 1999 [[Pan American Games]] bronze medal team.

Smart competed in three [[Summer Olympic Games|Olympic Games]] in men's saber.<ref name="auto1"/>  He placed 30th in the individual competition in the [[2000 Olympic Games]]. He then placed 15th in the individual competition and 4th in the team competition at the [[2004 Olympic Games]].<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>

He placed 6th in the individual competition at the [[2008 Olympic Games]], defeating eventual three-time individual Olympic champion [[Áron Szilágyi]] along the way, and won a [[silver medal]] in the 2008 team event.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/> In the saber team semi-finals the United States had been losing to Russia 40–35, before Smart outscored Russian [[Stanislav Pozdnyakov]] 10–4 for the win, with Team USA beating the Russians 45–44, allowing the Americans to go on to win the silver medal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/sports/olympics/18vecsey.html|title=Fencer and His Team Rise Above a Lot|first=George|last=Vecsey|date=August 17, 2008|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usafencing.org/news_article/show/204972-turnabout-us-saber-team-wins-twice-by-a-point|title=Turnabout: US saber team wins twice by a point|date=August 17, 2008|website=USA Fencing}}</ref> It was the first Olympic medal for the US men's saber team since 1948.<ref name="auto"/>

His sister Erinn also earned a silver medal as part of the US women's foil team at the 2008 Olympics.<ref name="Three Musketeers" /><ref name="auto"/>

In 2002 and 2004, Smart won the US national sabre championship. In 2003, he became the first American to be named the top-ranked fencer internationally.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto2"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/28/sports/fencing-fencer-from-brooklyn-earns-top-world-ranking.html|title=Fencing; Fencer from Brooklyn Earns Top World Ranking|first=Lena|last=Williams|date=March 28, 2003|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Keeth married Shyra (Cooper) Smart on May 27, 2007 in [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina|Chapel Hill]], [[North Carolina]].<ref name="NYTimes wedding" /> They live in Brooklyn, New York, with their two children. Keeth and his sister Erinn are actively involved in the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York City.

==See also==
* [[List of American sabre fencers]]
*[[List of USFA Division I National Champions]]
*[[NCAA Fencing Championships|List of NCAA fencing champions]]
*[[List of USFA Hall of Fame members]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Keeth}}
[[Category:1978 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:American male sabre fencers]]
[[Category:American sportspeople of Jamaican descent]]
[[Category:Columbia Business School alumni]]
[[Category:Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in fencing]]
[[Category:Fencers from New York City]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Technical High School alumni]]
[[Category:Fencers at the 1999 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in fencing]]
[[Category:St. John's Red Storm fencers]]
[[Category:St. John's University (New York City) alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportsmen]]