Matawan's Monica Aksamit Wins Bronze in Olympic Fencing

Matawan, NJ - It's a bronze medal win for local Matawan fencer Monica Aksamit, far left, and her nearly entirely New Jersey U.S. women's fencing team. The U.S. women's saber team won bronze Saturday after a 45-30 final victory against Italy.

Aksamit is a fencing instructor at Saint John Vianney High School in Holmdel and lives in Matawan. She is a graduate of Matawan Regional High School and was three-time All-American for the Penn State fencing team. Monica will next teach a fencing camp at Saint John Vianney from Aug. 22-25. Here is info on how to sign up for her fencing camp.

“I definitely felt on fire,” Aksamit, who kept Team USA in the lead throughout the entire match, told U.S. Fencing. “All of a sudden everything got locked up and it kind of hit me. Then I heard my teammates yell ‘Just one! Just one!’”

For the 4-person U.S. women's fencing team, it's the first time three of them have won an Olympic medal: Monica Aksamit of Matawan, N.J., Dagmara Wozniak, of Avenel, N.J. and Ibtihaj Muhammad, of Maplewood, N.J. However, for the fourth member of their team, Mariel Zagunis, of Beaverton, Ore., Saturday's win made her the only U.S. woman to win four Olympic medals. Zagunis won individual gold medals in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and a team bronze medal in 2008. Zagunis is now the only U.S. fencer to reach the podium at three different Olympics.

Muhammad of Maplewood, said the team is happy with the third-place win. “I feel like we came in the underdogs. We hadn’t medaled all year. To be able to do that and go home with a medal is a phenomenal feat," Muhammad told U.S. Fencing. "I’ll never forget this moment ... It’s been a lot of injuries. It’s been a lot of time away from my family. It’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears that went into winning this medal with my team. I can’t think of a better group of girls to win this medal with. I’m just very appreciative. I’m just very grateful to be able to represent my country.”

Wozniak, of Avenel, was in tears after their win. She immigrated to the U.S. from Poland as a baby.

“I’m actually glad that we have such a diverse team because we are America,” Wozniak said. “This is sport. It doesn’t matter what hair color you have or what religion you are. The point is to go out there and be the best athlete that you can be and I think we’re the best explanation of what America is – a mix of so many different cultures and races ... It’s all irrelevant and you’re supposed to go out there and fight as hard as you can."

Wozniak dyed her hair bright purple before the Olympic event because she said she wanted to encourage people to be confident and not be afraid to stand out.