Notre Dame

The star of America's fencing renaissance

If fencing was football, Mariel Zagunis would be a star on the order of Peyton Manning. There would be gauzy slo-mo half-hour TV features on her and everyone would know all about her Olympian parents (both on the 1976 U.S. rowing team), the Notre Dame connection, the two Olympic individual gold medals. That is, two so far. If fencing was basketball, Mariel Zagunis would be like MJ, Kobe and LeBron. MJ? MZ! A couple days ago, MZ took her talents to France and won yet another world championship in the sabre.

If fencing was boxing -- well, maybe there can only be one who is eternally The Greatest. But Zagunis, with this latest world championship, won Saturday at the famed Grand Palais in Paris, has made it abundantly plain that she holds a singular place in the annals of American Olympic sports.

She's great, and she has led an American renaissance in the sport. Click here to read the rest at TeamUSA.org.