Mount Kisco Teen Wins Gold At Jr Olympic Fencing Championships

MOUNT KISCO, NY — Nickoloz Lortkipanidze of Mount Kisco won a gold medal at the 2019 Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in Denver, Colo. The four-day tournament, Feb. 15 - 18, drew more than 2,000 athletes from 44 states, making it the largest junior national fencing championship in history.

The 16-year-old junior at Fox Lane High School in Bedford won gold in the Cadet event (17 and under) and placed 6th in Juniors (20 and under).

The next stop for Lortkipanidze is Torun, Poland, April 6 - 14, where he will compete internationally at the 2019 World Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships, representing the U.S. as a member of the U.S. National Cadet team.

Success in fencing is not new for Lortkipanidze. He has represented the U.S. in prior Cadet World Cup events where he placed 2nd in Germany and 5th in Austria during this 2018-19 season. He is currently ranked 3rd in the U.S. in Cadet men's saber.

Winning gold at the Junior Olympics had special meaning for Lortkipanidze since this was his first title in a national event and he was born in Denver.

For Lortkipanidze, fencing is a family affair. His father and current coach, Achiko Lortkipanidze, represented the Republic of Georgia as a saber fencer in the 1996 Olympics. His brother, Guram, 18, a former national champion, is now fencing at the University of Notre Dame.

Lortkipanidze trains with his father at the Tim Morehouse Fencing Club in Port Chester, N.Y., which is owned and operated by U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist Tim Morehouse. His mother, Ellen Giorgadze, a physician from the Republic of Georgia, is a nurse practitioner at Care Mount Urgent Care in Mount Kisco.

Lortkipanidze, who goes by Nick, started fencing at age 8 and immediately loved the sport. “I like the fast pace and the strategic mindset that’s required and the fact that it’s very tactical,” said Nickoloz. His goals are to fence in college and to hopefully make the Olympics one day.