Soren Thompson

{{Short description|American fencer (born 1981)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}} {{Infobox fencer | name = Soren Thompson | image = Soren Thompson Trophee Monal 2013 n02.jpg | caption = Thompson at the Trophée Monal in 2013 | birth_name = | fullname = | nickname = | nationality = | residence = New York City | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|5|5}} | birth_place = San Diego, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | height = {{convert|1.91|m|ftin}} | weight = {{convert|88|kg|lb}} | weapon = épée | hand = Right-handed | club = New York Athletic Club | headcoach = Self and Sebastien Dos Santos<ref name=autogenerated5>[http://www.usafencing.org/page/show/700846-soren-thompson "Soren Thompson,"] USA Fencing.</ref> | country = {{USA}} | fieranking = [https://fie.org/athletes/6745 current ranking] | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's fencing}} {{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }} {{MedalCompetition|World Championships}} {{MedalGold|2012 Kyiv|Team épée}} {{MedalBronze|1999 Keszthely|Junior Team épée}} {{MedalCompetition|Maccabiah Games}} {{MedalSilver|2005 Tel Aviv|Individual Épée}} {{MedalCountry|Princeton University}} {{MedalCompetition|NCAA Fencing Championships}} {{MedalGold|2001|Individual Épée}} {{MedalSilver|2002|Individual Épée}} {{MedalBronze|2005|Individual Épée}} | show-medals = yes }}

'''Soren Hunter Miles S Thompson'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://juegospanamericanos2011.inder.cu/Atletas/Ficha.aspx?IDAtleta=5379 |title=Ficha | XVI Juegos Panamericanos: Guadalajara 2011 |publisher=Juegospanamericanos2011.inder.cu |date= |accessdate=August 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101150311/http://juegospanamericanos2011.inder.cu/Atletas/Ficha.aspx?IDAtleta=5379 |archive-date=January 1, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> (born May 5, 1981) is an American épée fencer, team world champion, and two-time Olympian. He represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, where he reached the quarterfinals and came in 7th, the best US result in the event since 1956 and at the time the second-best US result of all time. He also represented the US in the 2012 Olympics in London. Thompson won a gold medal and world championship in the team épée event at the 2012 World Fencing Championships. He was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2018, and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

==Early and personal life== Thompson was born in San Diego, California, and attended Torrey Pines High School,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-04-01 |title=SHOOTING THE BREEZE: A Q&A with Olympic fencer Soren Thompson |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2012/04/01/shooting-the-breeze-a-qa-with-olympic-fencer-soren-thompson/ |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-08-01 |title=Torrey Pines HS Grad Set to Fence in Olympics Wednesday |url=https://patch.com/california/lajolla/torrey-pines-hs-graduate-set-to-fence-in-the-olympics-wednesday |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=La Jolla, CA Patch |language=en}}</ref> graduating in 1999.<ref name="sports-reference"/> He then attended Princeton University, majoring in Art and Architecture.<ref name="Fencing Media.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.fencingmedia.org/viewathlete.asp?name=soren_thompson|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630061753/http://www.fencingmedia.org/viewathlete.asp?name=soren_thompson|archivedate=June 30, 2006|title=Athlete Profile: Soren Thompson|publisher=Fencing Media.org|url-status=usurped|accessdate=13 July 2015}}</ref> While attending Princeton, Thompson took a year off from school to focus on his training prior to the 2004 Athens Olympics.<ref name=autogenerated1>Megan Sauer. [http://stategamesofamerica.com/sorenthompson "Soren Thompson: 5 Things Everyone Should Know About Fencing,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406032501/http://stategamesofamerica.com/sorenthompson |date=April 6, 2017 }} State Games of America.</ref> Thompson graduated with an A.B. in art and archaeology from Princeton University in 2005 after completing an 87-page-long senior thesis, titled "The San Diego School of Organic Architecture", under the supervision of Esther da Costa Meyer.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=Soren Hunter Miles Sussman|date=2005|title=The San Diego School of Organic Architecture|url=https://dataspace.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp01vm40xr92c}}</ref><ref name="Fencing Media.org"/><ref name=autogenerated1 />

From 2008 until April 2011 he worked for Hycrete, a clean-tech company in Northern New Jersey.<ref name=autogenerated2>[http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2012/07/18/after-hamstring-injury-nearly-ended-fencing-career-pu-alum-thompson-making-return-trip-to-olympics/ "After Hamstring Injury Nearly Ended Fencing Career, PU Alum Thompson Making Return Trip to Olympics,"] ''Town Topics'', July 18, 2012.</ref> Since 2015, Thompson has served as Vice President of Business Development of Daxor Corporation, a blood volume diagnostic company in New York City.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/03/08/1418666/0/en/Daxor-Corporation-Announces-Rise-in-Kit-Sales-New-Device-Sale-and-Filing-of-Form-N-CSR-for-2017-NYSE-MKT-LLC-DXR.html |title=Daxor Corporation Announces Rise in Kit Sales, New Device Sale, and Filing of Form N-CSR for 2017 (NYSE MKT LLC: DXR)|publisher=GlobalNewswire |date=March 8, 2018 |accessdate=December 17, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.daxor.com/executive-team/ |title=Executive Team; Soren Thompson, Vice President Business Development |publisher=Daxor |date= |accessdate=2019-12-17}}</ref> He received an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gocolumbialions.com/sports/2020/2/6/columbia-in-the-olympics|title=Columbia's Olympic History|website=Columbia University Athletics}}</ref>

He was a resident of San Diego, and now resides in New York City.<ref>Wayne Coffey (July 26, 2012). [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics-2012/race-imboden-new-yorkers-dominate-u-s-olympic-fencing-team-article-1.1122115 "Don't fence us in: New Yorkers dominate Olympic team,"] ''New York Daily News''.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usafencing.org/page/show/700846-soren-thompson |title=Soren Thompson |publisher=USA Fencing |date= |accessdate=December 17, 2019}}</ref>

==Fencing career== Thompson started fencing when he was 7 years old.<ref name="Fencing Media.org" /> He eventually became the highest-ranked junior in the United States.<ref name="Fencing Media.org" />

Thompson currently represents the New York Athletic Club, and trains there and at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. His coaches have included Alison Reid, Lisa Posthumus, Gago Demirchian, Yefim Litvan, Michel Sebastiani, Heizaburo Okawa, and Michael D'Asaro Sr.<ref name="Fencing Media.org" />

===NCAA championships=== Thompson attended Princeton University.<ref name=autogenerated5 /> Fencing at Princeton under Maître Michel Sebastiani, Thompson was the 2001 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Épée Champion, came in 2nd in 2002, and was 3rd in 2005.<ref>[https://www.fencinginstruction.com/instructors.html "Instructors,"] Fencing Instruction.{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southwestfencing.org/01-02/ncaafencing2002NCAA2002.html |title=2002 NCAA Fencing |date= |publisher=SouthWest Fencing |accessdate=January 3, 2011}}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>[https://www.fencinginstruction.com/news.html Fencing Instruction.]{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012023633/https://www.fencinginstruction.com/news.html |title=.|date=October 12, 2013 }}</ref><ref>Gerry Brown, Michael Morrison (2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1y8cgjfy-QC&q=%22soren+thompson%22 ''ESPN Sports Almanac 2002: Information Please,''] Hyperion.</ref>

His other NCAA awards include First Team All-American in 2001–02 and 2005, and Honorary All-American in 2003, First Team All-Ivy in 2001–03 and 2005, and Academic All-Ivy in 2005.

In 2005, Princeton awarded Thompson the William Winston Roper Trophy, its highest honor for a male athlete.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://princetonvarsityclub.alumniathlete.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=inst_career_center.content&contentid=0d65299e-125a-45fb-ac98-2aec5d1a62fc |title=William Winston Roper Trophy |publisher=Princeton Varsity Club |date= |access-date=January 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008054908/http://princetonvarsityclub.alumniathlete.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=inst_career_center.content&contentid=0d65299e-125a-45fb-ac98-2aec5d1a62fc |archive-date=October 8, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref>

===Junior and Senior National Championships=== Thompson won the US Junior National Championship and the US Junior Olympics Championship in 1999 in épée.

He won individual gold medals in men's épée at both the 2011 US Fencing National Championships and the 2018 US Fencing National Championships.<ref name=autogenerated3>[http://aroundtherings.com/site/A__60270/Title__FENCING-2018-USA-Fencing-Hall-of-Fame-Induction-Class/292/Articles "Fencing: 2018 USA Fencing Hall of Fame Induction Class,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116135536/http://aroundtherings.com/site/A__60270/Title__FENCING-2018-USA-Fencing-Hall-of-Fame-Induction-Class/292/Articles |date=January 16, 2018 }} ''Around the Rings'', May 24, 2017.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usafencing.org/news_article/show/930706 |title=Nicole Ross and Soren Thompson Bring Home Gold to Open Summer Nationals|author= Kristen Henneman|publisher=USA Fencing|date=June 29, 2018|accessdate=December 17, 2019}}</ref>

Through 2021, he has won team gold medals in men's épée in the 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2019, and 2021 US Fencing National Championships with teams from the New York Athletic Club.<ref>[http://museumofamericanfencing.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Div-I-Team-National-Champions-by-year.pdf "U.S. Fencing Division I Team National Champions by Year,"] Museum of American Fencing.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usafencing.org/page/show/6795555-2020-21-season-results|title=2020-21 Season|website=USA Fencing}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usafencing.org/page/show/4959543-2018-2019-season|title=2018-2019 Season|website=USA Fencing}}</ref>

===World Championships=== Thompson won the team bronze medal in the 1999 Junior World Fencing Championships.<ref name=autogenerated5 /> The following year, he came in 11th individually at the 2000 Junior World Fencing Championships.<ref name=autogenerated5 />

Thompson took 8th in the 2003 World Fencing Championships in Havana, Cuba, defeating top seed Ivan Kovacs of Hungary (15–14).<ref>[https://archive.today/20040616092118/http://www.fencingfootage.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=91 "2003 World Championships Epee: Mr. Thompson Goes to Cuba,"] ''Fencing Footage''.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OiJbAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22soren+thompson%22&pg=PT159 "Sports Shorts,"] ''Princeton Alumni Weekly'', November 5, 2003.</ref>

He came in 26th in the 2006 World Fencing Championships in épée, in Turin, Italy.<ref name="usfencing.org">[http://www.usfencing.org/page/show/700846-soren-thompson "Soren Thompson,"] USA Fencing.</ref> At the 2011 World Fencing Championships, Thompson made it as far as the Round of 16 (where he lost to 2011 world champion Paolo Pizzo of Italy) in Catania, Italy.<ref>[http://fie.org/fencers/Soren-THOMPSON-6745/career "Soren Thompson,"], FIE.</ref>

At the 2012 World Fencing Championships in Kyiv, Ukraine, in April 2012, Thompson won the gold medal for the team épée event, as part of the U.S. Men's Épée Team that won the first Senior World Championship fencing title for American men in history.<ref name="usfencing.org"/><ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref name=autogenerated6>John Otis (May 17, 2012). [https://london2012.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/for-epee-team-a-world-championship-but-no-olympics/ "For Épée Team, a World Championship but No Olympics,"] ''The New York Times''.</ref><ref name=autogenerated4>Ivette Morello (May 2, 2012). [http://www.eurweb.com/2012/05/ben-bratton-first-african-american-to-win-gold-in-elite-sport-of-fencing-video/# "Ben Bratton: First African-American to Win Gold in Elite Sport of Fencing" (video),"] EURweb.</ref> The US team defeated six-time reigning World Champion France in the finals.<ref name=autogenerated4 />

===Olympics=== ====2004==== While attending Princeton, Thompson took a year off of school to focus on his training prior to the 2004 Athens Olympics. <ref name=autogenerated1 /> He qualified for both the individual and team épée competitions in Athens.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

Thompson fenced for the US in the 2004 Olympics at 23 years of age, taking 7th place in the individual épée competition, the best US result in the event since 1956 and at the time the second-best of all time.<ref name="sports-reference">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/soren-thompson-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417230633/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/th/soren-thompson-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |title=Soren Thompson Olympic Results |accessdate=June 10, 2012 |publisher=Sports Reference}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref name=autogenerated2 /> He defeated Paris Inostroza of Chile in Round Two, 13–12.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417082727/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/2004/FEN/mens-epee-individual-round-two.html "Fencing at the 2004 Athens Summer Games: Men's Epee, Individual Round Two,"] Sports Reference.</ref> In the Round of 16, he defeated Alfredo Rota of Italy, the No. 1 ranked épée fencer in the world and 2000 Olympics team épée gold medal winner, 15–13.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2004/09/09/sports/10638.shtml |title=Tiger in Athens; Thompson '05 knocks off world's top fencer in Athens |work=Daily Princetonian|author=David Baumgarten |date=September 9, 2004 |access-date=January 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309200825/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2004/09/09/sports/10638.shtml |archive-date=March 9, 2005 }}</ref> He then lost 15–11 to the 2000 Olympic gold medalist Pavel Kolobkov of Russia, who went on to win the 2004 Olympic silver medal.<ref>. [https://www.usocpressbox.org/usoc/pressbox.nsf/05d409f9240f65c087256c690010d98e/d0a471700def49b585256efd00599479?OpenDocument&Click=], US Olympic Committee.{{dead link|date=February 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Thompson became the first American to reach the men's épée quarterfinals in nearly 50 years.<ref name="princeton1">{{cite web|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_new/PAW04-05/08-0209/sports.html |title=Have sword, will travel; Olympic fencer's skills have global appeal|author=Brett Tomlinson|work=Princeton Alumni Weekly |date=February 9, 2005 |accessdate=January 3, 2011}}</ref>

He also took 5th place with the US épée squad in the team competition at the 2004 Olympics.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

The US Olympic Committee named him the 2004 Male Athlete of the Year: Fencing.<ref name="auto">[https://www.fencingarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/usfa/operationsmanual/2011%20Operations%20Manual%202011-09-30.pdf "Operations Manual 2011 Edition,"] USA Fencing.</ref>

Thompson sought to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and was having the best season of his career. He suffered a serious injury, however, a fully torn off-the-bone right hamstring, before he was able to qualify. He therefore retired – temporarily, it turned out – from competitive fencing.<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref name=autogenerated2 />

====2012==== thumb|240px|Soren Thompson in 2013 Thompson came out of retirement in 2010, and trained before and after his full-time job.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> He left his job in April 2011 to focus exclusively on fencing.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> He decided to not have a coach, as he didn't find what he wanted in a coach in New York City, and knew what he wanted to do, and felt he just needed to execute."<ref name=autogenerated2 />

He qualified and represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympics. Thompson was eliminated in the round of 32 in the individual épée competition by Jörg Fiedler of Germany, the reigning European champion, finishing in 19th place.<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref>R. Stickney (July 31, 2012). [http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/sports/San-Diego-Local-Olympians-to-Watch-Wednesday-Aug-1-164497546.html "Upsets, Near Miss for Local Olympians,"] NBC 7 San Diego.</ref> No team men's épée event was held at the 2012 Olympics.<ref name=autogenerated6 />

Thompson finished the 2012 season ranked 7th in the world in individual épée.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

===Pan American Games and Pan American Championships=== Thompson competed on the U.S. men's épée team and was a substitute on the U.S. men's foil team at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.<ref name="auto"/> The épée team finished fourth, while the foil team won a gold medal.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Fencing Media.org" /> He subsequently won a team gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.<ref name=autogenerated5 />

He won individual and team gold medals at both the 2011 Pan American Fencing Championships in Reno, Nevada, and the 2012 Pan American Fencing Championships in Cancún, Mexico.<ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref name=autogenerated5 /> Thompson then won a team silver medal at the 2013 Pan American Championships.<ref name=autogenerated5 />

===Maccabiah Games=== Thompson, who is Jewish, won a team silver medal at the 2005 17th Maccabiah Games in Israel.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hanau |first=Shira |url=https://njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com/foiled-in-ussr-emigre-lives-fencing-dreams-as-club-coach/ |title=Foiled in USSR, emigre lives fencing dreams as club coach |work=New Jersey Jewish News|date=July 16, 2012 |accessdate=December 17, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sdjewishjournal.com/sdjj/september-2005/soren-the-swashbuckler/ |title=Soren the swashbuckler|author=Debra Kamin |work=San Diego Jewish Journal |date=June 21, 2010 |accessdate=2019-12-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcsfencing.com/news/maccabiah.html |access-date=February 3, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222003920/http://www.pcsfencing.com/news/maccabiah.html |archive-date=February 22, 2007 |title=Maccabiah Games Results for Pacific Coast Section Fencers}}</ref>

===Senior North American Cup=== He is a senior North American Cup (NAC) champion. In 2010, Thompson won a bronze medal at the North American Cup A.<ref name=autogenerated5 /> In 2012, he won a silver medal at the December North American Cup.<ref name=autogenerated5 />

===World Cup=== Thompson came in 2nd, winning the silver medal, at the 2004 Buenos Aires Senior Épée World Cup.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~tigerfen/alumni/bios/Thompson_Soren.html |access-date=February 24, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070111052644/http://www.princeton.edu/~tigerfen/alumni/bios/Thompson_Soren.html |archive-date=January 11, 2007 |title= Soren Thompson|publisher=princeton.edu}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated5 /> He won a team silver medal at the 2012 Legnano World Cup, and a team bronze medal at the 2012 Tallinn World Cup.<ref name=autogenerated5 /> The following year he again won a team silver medal at the 2013 Legnano World Cup.<ref name=autogenerated5 />

==Halls of Fame== Thompson was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2018.<ref name=autogenerated3 />

He is a 2020 Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductee.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scjewishsportshof.com/newinductees/ |title=New Inductees | SoCal Jewish Sports Hall of Fame 30th Anniversary |publisher=Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame|date= |accessdate=2019-12-17}}</ref>

==Miscellaneous== Thompson appears in ''Impractical Jokers'' an American hidden camera-practical joke reality series, as a guest star.

Thompson was listed at # 61 in the book ''100 of the Best Fencers of All Time'' (A&V, 2014).<ref>Alex Trost, Vadim Kravetsky (2014). [https://books.google.com/books?id=I9PLAwAAQBAJ&q=%22soren+thompson%22 ''100 of the Best Fencers of All Time,''] A&V.</ref>

== References == {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links== *[https://www.facebook.com/Soren-Thompson-258346350846446/ Facebook page] *[http://fie.org/fencers/Soren-THOMPSON-6745/ FIE (International Fencing Federation) profile] *Jason Rogers (February 7, 2017). [https://www.betterfencer.com/articles/soren-thompson-on-fencing-training "Soren Thompson on Fencing, Training for the Unknown,"] ''Better Fencer''.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Soren}} Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American Jews Category:American male épée fencers Category:Columbia Business School alumni Category:Competitors at the 2005 Maccabiah Games Category:Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Category:Fencers from New York City Category:Jewish épée fencers Category:Jewish American sportspeople Category:Jews from New York (state) Category:Fencers at the 2011 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in fencing Category:Olympic fencers for the United States Category:Princeton Tigers fencers Category:Maccabiah Games silver medalists for the United States Category:Maccabiah Games medalists in fencing Category:Sportspeople from San Diego Category:21st-century American sportsmen Category:World Fencing Championships medalists