Olympian and Barnard graduate, Erinn Smart, ’01, returned to her alma mater to help inspire girls and young women to achieve their athletic dreams, just like other Olympians inspired her.
Smart visited as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day at Baker Athletics Complex. She served on a panel with fellow Olympian, Cristina Teuscher '00CC, to speak with young women about sports and the industry.
“My Olympic dream started when I was really young,” the 2008 silver medalist in fencing said. “I always wanted to be an Olympian. I just didn't know what sport and so it did help.” From day one, Smart aspired to be the next Mary Lou Retton, Florence Griffith Joyner and Janet Evans—strong women who shattered records, defied odds, and challenged the norm in their respective sports.
Smart’s visit fell during the first week of Black History Month and she reflected on what the month means to her saying, “Black History Month to me is about reflection in progress.”
“It’s reflecting on those that were before me, that broke ground and helped me to get to where I am. But it’s also about progress for me on what I can do for the next generation after me.”
Smart began fencing at nine years old and immediately fell in love with the sport. And at age 11, her parents enrolled her and her brother in the inaugural class at the Peter Westbrook Foundation.
Peter Westbrook, a 13-time national fencing champion and the first African-American to win an individual medal in fencing at an Olympic Games, started the foundation to introduce inner-city kids to the sport of fencing.
“Fencing is known as physical chess, because for every action in your opponent's reaction, you have to have another reaction,” said Smart. “So it really is thinking two, three, maybe four steps ahead on how to prepare to match, and then thinking real time, you really have to be on your toes on how to respond to your opponent.”
For young women looking to compete in sports, Smart cautions that the work is tough and requires countless hours of training and competition—but it is doable.
“The Olympics were a dream. I was never sure if I would achieve it,” she said. “I would just say that it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of commitment and sacrifice.”
“And if any young girl or woman is on that path, it's one that you just have to keep at,” Smart added.
As a student at Barnard, Smart said the college equipped her with essential skills—like critical thinking, self-confidence, and teamwork—needed for the sport and in life.
When she was a student, Smart competed with Columbia’s fencing team as part of The Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium, something she said helped prepare her for the Olympics.
“Fencing at Columbia and collegiate fencing prepares you well for international competitions,” Smart explained while talking about her college experience. “It taught me how to be aggressive in those early matches, which helps when it comes to international seeding and who you might fence in the long run. So it was really great preparation for international fencing.”
She went on to become the first Black Olympic medalist in the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium.
Smart previously shared the challenges she overcame during the 2008 Olympics, where she and her brother both won medals, in a piece for Barnard Magazine. At the time, she said the achievement was not without its challenges.
“We were devastated by the sudden passing of our father in 2006; my brother battled a rare, life-threatening blood disease in 2007; and just months before the 2008 Olympics, we lost our mother to cancer,” Smart told Barnard Magazine in 2016.
Smart, who has remained connected with Barnard in the decades since she’s graduated, is coming back to campus in May for the annual Barnard reunion, celebrating 25 years since her graduation.