| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | American | |||||||||||
| Born | January 5, 1958 Los Angeles, California, United States | |||||||||||
| Height | 6-2.5 (190 cm) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Country | United States | |||||||||||
| Sport | Fencing | |||||||||||
| Event | epee | |||||||||||
| College team | San Jose State University (BA Boston University (MFA) | |||||||||||
| Club | Fencing Center of San Jose[1] | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Peter Schifrin (born January 5, 1958) is an American Olympic epee fencer and sculptor.
Schifrin was born in Los Angeles, California, lived in Santa Rosa, California, and is Jewish.[1][2][3] His father was a professional artist.[4] After attending San Jose State University, where he earned a BA as a fine arts major, he earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Boston University.[1][2][5]
Schifrin began fencing at age 13.[6] While in high school he won the Junior National Epee Championship in both 1976 and 1977.[2]
He attended and fenced for San Jose State University on a fencing scholarship from 1979 through 1982.[7][1][2][6] There, Schifrin was a four-time All-American, and had a 266-35 win-loss record.[2] He won the 1982 NCAA Epee National Championship—thereby becoming the university's first and only NCAA champion in men's fencing.[1][2]
Schifrin represented the United States at the 1979 Pan American Games team, winning a gold medal, and competed at the 1979 Summer Universiade and the 1981 Summer Universiade.[1][2] He won a silver medal in epee at the 1981 Maccabiah Games.[1]
He competed in the team épée event at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[1]
Schifrin was inducted into the San Jose State University Sports Hall of Fame, in the Class of 2005.[2]
Schifrin became a poet and an artist, trained in figurative and portrait sculpture, and began making textured works in both metal and clay.[8][6] He has had multiple commissioned works in California: he designed and executed a bronze firefighter in San Ramon, a bronze "Wounded Man" for San Mateo's Performing Arts Center, and a set of bronze coyotes for downtown San Jose.[1][9] Schifrin also created "Wings," a series of three sculptures installed on Martha's Vineyard.[1] Schifrin and another sculptor, David Duskin, created "J-Line," which was commissioned by another fencing Olympian, Stephen Trevor, a private equity manager.[1] He has works on display with the Art of the Olympians.[10][11][12]
Schifrin also teaches as an instructor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.[1][6] He was voted into the National Sculpture Society in 2011.[13]
