American fencer
Dagmara "Daga" Wozniak (Polish: Woźniak; born July 1, 1988) is an American saber fencer.[1] Wozniak was named to the U.S. Olympic team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in women's saber competition as a substitute, and as a competitor at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.[2][3][4] As of the summer of 2016, she was ranked as one of the top 10 saber fencers in the world.[5]
Early life and education
Her parents are Gregory and Irena Wozniak and she has an older sister, Zuzanna.[4] She was born in Wrocław, Poland. When Wozniak was one year old, she immigrated to the United States with her parents. The family settled in Avenel, New Jersey, Wozniak's hometown.[4][5][6]
Wozniak graduated from Colonia High School in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey in 2006.[6] She was the New Jersey high school sabre champion in 2005.[7] She went on to attend St. John's University, where she majored in Biology.[8]
Fencing career
Wozniak began fencing at age 9 at the Polish American Fencing School (PAFS) in Linden, New Jersey.[9][5][6] She has trained at the Manhattan Fencing Center since high school, and her coach is Yury Gelman.[4][6] She won three team medals at the Junior World Fencing Championships.[5]
Wozniak was an Olympic alternate in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing but did not compete. She became a full member of the U.S. team at the 2012 Olympic Games and placed eighth, losing to Sofiya Velikaya of Russia in the quarterfinals by the score of 15–13.[3][5][6] It was later revealed that she had fenced with a partially torn Achilles tendon.[6]
After winning bronze medals in the team competition at the 2011 World Fencing Championships, and the 2012 and 2013 Senior World Championships, Wozniak won a gold medal with Team USA in 2014.[5]
As of the summer of 2016, she was ranked among the top 10 saber fencers in the world.[5] She represented the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[4] The team won a bronze medal.
She has qualified to represent the United States in fencing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.
