Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, NY) started fencing at the Peter Westbrook Foundation at just 9 years old. Since then, her results have been historic. In addition to competing at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Nzingha was the first African American woman to win an individual medal at Senior World Championships with a bronze in 2015. She was also the first U.S. women's foil fencer to win a Grand Prix title at the Marseille Foil Grand Prix in 2013. Over Nzingha's fencing career, she won five world championship titles across cadet, junior, and senior levels.
Since her retirement from competing, Nzingha has been committed to increasing access and opportunity in our sport. A graduate of Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in political science and a concentration in race and ethnicity, Prescod is one of the founding members of USA Fencing's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Resource Team. She also recently founded Fencing in the Park, a community-based program in East Flatbush offering no-cost fencing lessons from professional and Olympic athletes to youth in the local Brooklyn Community.
