After winning Olympic gold, Philly’s Maia Weintraub is back to balancing college and fencing

After two months off from fencing, Maia Weintraub is trying to get back some normalcy after winning a gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics.

And USA Fencing’s October North American Cup on Oct. 6 in Atlantic City was the Princeton junior’s welcome back to the life of a student-athlete. She placed seventh in the Division I women’s foil event.

“It was actually maybe not the best timing,” said Weintraub, laughing. “It was the weekend right before midterms, so I was studying in between, but it was nice to start moving again and getting warmed up. I forgot how much time and effort goes into training and preparation.”

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However, she needed a reset. Weintraub, 21, a Friends Select School graduate, took last year off from school to focus on her Olympic training. She stayed near campus, which gave her a sense of structure, but admitted it was tough because of her rigorous training schedule. Weintraub, a two-time All-American and 2022 NCAA women’s foil champion, trained with her Princeton teammates and traveled to several international competitions throughout the season.

She also enjoys school. As an ecology and evolutionary biology major, Weintraub was concerned that a gap year could put her behind academically. In the future, she plans to attend medical school.

“It was a little daunting because it’s something that I’ve never done before,” Weintraub said. “But I’m really happy I took it because I wanted to know that I gave it my all and I tried my best, so I didn’t want to sacrifice my academics at the same time, because those are two parts of my life that I care a lot about.”

Weintraub, who has been fencing since she was 9 years old, knew the Olympics were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She didn’t find out till May that she qualified for the U.S. women’s foil Olympic roster as an alternate, and her experience in Paris still gives her goose bumps.

She competed in a pair of gold-medal matches, where she stepped in for teammate Jackie Dubrovich. She won, 6-4, Olympic debut to put Team USA ahead with four bouts left.

In her second bout, Weintraub won, 5-1, to help the Americans win a gold medal over Italy. It marked the first time in history that the U.S. women’s foil team earned gold.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “Especially because fencing is such a strong sport for countries like Italy and France and Russia — it’s very well established, and in the U.S. it’s not as much. … I don’t think that [the team] could have ever dreamed of winning something like this because we just don’t have as [many] resources.

“Being able to be a part of such a historic moment was also very emotional and it’s really prideful for us.”

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Weintraub became the first Princeton athlete to win a fencing gold medal and fifth overall to medal in the sport. After her Olympic experience, she noticed the attention around women’s fencing pick up, whether it’s someone spotting her on campus or receiving media request.

She hopes her spotlight on the Olympic stage will drive others to try the sport. Her start began with the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, a place that gave her a sense of community and belonging.

“I was able to broaden my social circle, meet people that I wouldn’t have otherwise met in a more diverse group,” she said. “I really loved the people, the friends that I had made, and, honestly, some of them I’m still friends with today and will probably still be long after I’m done with fencing.”

Her focus has turned to other aspects of life that she put on pause for the past year, including academics, friendships, and enjoying life as a college student.

As for fencing, she plans to continue her journey until 2028 and hopes to qualify for the Los Angeles Games. Although, she’s not thinking that far ahead in terms of preparation, Weintraub doesn’t know where she would be without fencing.

The sport has motivated her to pursue endeavors out of her comfort zone.

“I’ve been doing this from a really young age, so part of me would feel weird not to be doing this,” Weintraub said. “But at the same time, having goals and things I want to pursue in the future, like grad school and pursue medicine, I think seeing that sort of end result helps push me. I know I have to work in order to get there.”