RICHMOND, Va., May 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Peter Westbrook Foundation is excited to announce that it has officially qualified four members of its program to the 2021 Olympic Team. Daryl Homer, Khalil Thompson, Curtis McDowald and Yeisser Ramirez have all been officially named to represent the United States this summer on the event’s biggest stage in Tokyo, Japan.
Qualification concluded this year at the North American Cup in Richmond, Virginia, which served as the final event in a series of qualifiers that began in 2019 and were delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Daryl Homer, Curtis McDowald and Yeisser Ramirez locked their positions to qualify for the Games with outstanding international performances in Budapest, Hungary and Kazan, Russia earlier in the year. With one final national competition, though, spots still remained open for the men’s sabre and men’s epee teams.
Khalil Thompson entered the winner-takes-all event in a qualifying position against two competitors sitting less than 200 points apart. With the best finish earning the last and final position on the Olympic team, only the athlete that could overcome the intense pressure of competing against a field of over 100 of the United States’ best fencers would earn the ultimate prize. In an exciting and emotional performance, Khalil would go undefeated through the competition to claim his first North American Cup title and punch his ticket to Tokyo.
Khalil joins his PWF teammate Daryl Homer to compete in the men’s sabre event at this year’s Olympics. Daryl Homer will represent Team USA in his third Olympic Games and looks for a repeat of his historic performance in Rio where he earned an individual silver medal. In men’s epee, Curtis McDowald and Yeisser Ramirez will represent the United States in their first Olympic appearance.
“The Peter Westbrook Foundation is immensely proud of our athletes that have overcome incredible adversity to qualify for the Olympics this year,” said Peter Westbrook the founder of the Peter Westbrook Foundation. “The struggle of this season was practically insurmountable as our athletes needed to adapt to huge disruptions in training and an entirely new competitive climate. Congratulations to our athletes and staff for navigating this tumultuous time and emerging successfully.”
Other notable results for Peter Westbrook Foundation athletes at the North American Cup include:
- Division I Men’s Sabre – Khalil Thompson – GOLD Medal
- Division I Men’s Epee – Adam Rodney – SILVER Medal
- Division I Women’s Sabre – Kamali Thompson – BRONZE Medal
- Division I Women’s Epee – Isis Washington – 8th Place
Contact:
Benjamin Bratton
917-673-7648
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SOURCE Peter Westbrook Foundation
