Emily Phillipa Jacobson (born December 2, 1985, in Decatur, Georgia) is an American Olympic sabre fencer. She won a bronze medal in the 2003 Pan American Games, and was 2004 Junior World Champion in women's saber.
Background
Jacobson was born in Decatur, Georgia, and is Jewish.[1] She is a daughter of David Jacobson, an endocrinologist who was a member of the 1974 U.S. National fencing team in saber and also a former Yale fencer, and Tina Jacobson, who has also fenced competitively.[2][3] She is the younger sister of fellow U.S. Olympic team fencer Sada Jacobson, born in February 1983.[2] She also has a younger sister, Jackie, who was born February 26, 1989, who is also a world-class fencer.
World Championships, World Cups, Pan Am Games, and US & World Rankings
Jacobson finished 7th in saber at the 2001 World Championships.[9] She won a team gold medal in sabre at the 2001 World Junior Team Championships. She won a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.[9] She won a bronze medal at a World Cup in Havana, Cuba, in June 2003, and a silver medal at a World Cup in Budapest, Hungary, in March 2004.[10]
At the 2004 Junior World Championships, she won gold medals in both the team and individual events.[9] That year, she was ranked No. 3 among female junior and senior U.S. saber fencers.[9]
In 2005 she took 5th in the Junior World Championships.[11]
In 2010, she won the National Championship in Women’s Sabre at the US Fencing National Championships.[12]
After high school, she ranked second nationally, and 11th in the world. At Columbia University, fencing for the Columbia Lions fencing team Jacobson she was named first team All-American all four years that she competed.[14][15]
Jacobson was the 2005 NCAA Champion.[16] She won the women’s sabre title at the 2005 North American Cup, and secured the silver medal in sabre at the IFA Championships.[14] In 2004–05 she was 27–3 overall and ranked 3rd in the nation, and 8th in the world, in sabre that year.[14]
In 2006, she finished second in sabre at the NCAA Championships, and placed 8th at the North American Cup.[3] In 2007 and 2008 she was third in the NCAA Championships.[3] She was 31–2 during the 2005–06 season.[14] For her career, she had a record of 131-16, with a .891 winning percentage.[15]
Awards
Jacobson, who is Jewish, received the 2002 Jules D. Mazor Award as the Jewish High School Athlete of the year from the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[9] In 2014, she was inducted into Columbia Athletics Hall of Fame.[15] and in 2016 she was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame.[15]
Calendar
Her image was included in a 5766 calendar, "Jewish + Female = Athlete: Portraits of Strength from around the World", featuring Jewish women in sport, produced by the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute.[17]
