Maia Chamberlain
| Maia Chamberlain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| File:Maia chamberlain - official headshot (credit usa fencing).jpg Chamberlain at USA Fencing Media Day, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country represented | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 5, 1998 Palo Alto, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | New York City, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weapon(s) | Sabre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 167 cm (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Manhattan Fencing Center | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Maia Chamberlain (born June 5, 1998) is an American right-handed sabre fencer.[1] She is the #1-ranked women's sabre fencer in the United States and is ranked 14th in the world by the International Fencing Federation (FIE) as of April 2026. A 2024 Paris Olympian, Chamberlain is a 6-time senior national champion, a double gold medalist at the 2025 Pan-American Championships, and a 2023 Pan-American Games team gold medalist. She was one of twelve athletes selected for the inaugural World Fencing League (WFL), which premiered on April 25, 2026, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Known globally as "The Parry Queen" for her inventive defensive style, Chamberlain is also a Princeton University alumna (B.A. Architecture, Class of 2022) and is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese, and French, with conversational Japanese.
Early life
Chamberlain was born on June 5, 1998, in Palo Alto, California, to Warren Chamberlain and Lin Chan. Her mother is from Malaysia and her father is from Australia, a background that shaped her multilingual upbringing. From age five, she attended Silicon Valley International School (INTL) in Palo Alto, where she was enrolled in a Chinese bilingual program, achieving full fluency in Mandarin Chinese. She also began studying French in middle school at INTL, graduating from the school in 2012.[2]
She subsequently attended Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California, where she continued her French studies through the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, graduating in 2016.[2]
Career
Chamberlain began fencing at age nine. She has cited the Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean film franchises as her original inspiration for trying the sport, recalling that she would battle her father with toy lightsabers, always choosing the green one to be like Luke Skywalker. When her mother enrolled her in a saber fencing camp one summer, she was the only girl remaining by the end of the camp and was performing well among the boys. Eric Dew, PhD, owner of First Place Fencing in the Bay Area, recommended she continue training. Within less than a year she placed third at the 2008 Summer Nationals held nearby in San Jose, motivated in part by Dew's offer of an Apple Nano to any of his students who medaled.[3]
After First Place Fencing, Chamberlain trained at Cardinal Fencing Club, a private club located at Stanford University, under coach Alexander (Sasha) Lepeshinski, now owner of Alle Fencing in Florida. It was under Lepeshinski that she developed her signature Counter Parry, the defensive technique that would later become her trademark and earn her the nickname "The Parry Queen." In 2013, at age 14, Chamberlain earned her A-rating in sabre, the highest rating category in USA Fencing, making her one of the youngest athletes to achieve that distinction. That same year she won two Y14 national titles and finished first on the National Points table. She went on to compete at the 2015 Cadet World Fencing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, finishing 7th.[4] At the end of the 2015 season, she was ranked #2 in the country in Cadets, and was recruited by several elite universities including Stanford. However, she chose Princeton for the East Coast experience and the strength of its fencing program.
Chamberlain enrolled at Princeton University in the fall of 2016 as part of the Class of 2020, where she joined the Princeton Women's Sabre team, widely regarded as one of the strongest collegiate fencing programs in the United States. In her freshman year she earned All-American honors, finishing third at the NCAA Championships. In mid-April 2018, towards the end of her sophomore year, she declared Architecture as her major. That same spring, Chamberlain won the NCAA Women's Saber individual title, defeating Penn State's Zara Moss 15–11 in the final, becoming the fifth Princeton fencer to win an individual NCAA fencing championship.[5] She also won the Ivy League individual championship and was named First-Team All-Ivy League.
After winning the NCAA individual title and the Division I national championship in 2018, Chamberlain took two years away from Princeton, the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons, to pursue qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her campaign suffered a serious early setback when she severed three ankle ligaments at a training camp in Orléans, France in November 2018, just before her first senior World Cup of the qualifying cycle. Despite the injury, she fought back to competitive form and was on track to qualify for Tokyo when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. With the Olympic qualification pathway thrown into uncertainty, she made the decision to return to Princeton to complete her studies.[5]
When Chamberlain returned to Princeton for the 2021–22 season, she focused on her studies and NCAA competition rather than the FIE international circuit, earning her third All-American honor, reaching the NCAA semifinals, and winning the NCAA Regional Championship. She graduated in 2022 with a B.A. in Architecture. Following graduation, she committed full time to the international circuit and the pursuit of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.[5] In 2022, she was named a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.[6]
Chamberlain made her senior World Team in 2023 and has been a consistent presence in the top 16 of the FIE world rankings since. In May 2023, she earned a Silver Medal with the U.S. team at the World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. She won team Gold at the Pan-American Regionals in Lima, Peru in June 2023, and that October won team Gold at the 2023 Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile, also finishing with an Individual Silver.[4] At the 2023 World Fencing Championships in Milan, Italy, she was part of the U.S. Women's Saber team that finished 7th.[4]
She started the year strongly winning two NAC events including the 2024 National Championship, propelling her to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics as a member of the U.S. Women's Saber team, and becoming a first-time Olympian. At Paris, the U.S. Women's Saber team finished 5th, with Chamberlain finishing the event with a net positive indicator. The Wall Street Journal featured Chamberlain in a front-page story on July 29, 2024, among U.S. Olympians who took up fencing because of Star Wars, describing her childhood lightsaber battles with her father, always taking the green one to be like Luke Skywalker.[7] Chamberlain was also featured in a CNN live interview with anchor Coy Wire, broadcast from Paris on July 27, 2024, discussing her first Olympic experience alongside fellow first-time Olympian Maia Weintraub.[8]
In June 2025, Chamberlain had one of the strongest performances of her career at the Pan-American Senior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, winning Gold in both the Individual and Team events, a double gold that cemented her status as the dominant women's sabre fencer in the Americas.[9] She was a member of the U.S. squad at the 2025 Senior World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in July 2025. In October 2025, she won the October NAC with a 1st-place finish from a field of 213 competitors.
In March 2026, Chamberlain anchored the U.S. Women's Saber team to a Silver Medal at the Tashkent World Cup in Uzbekistan. The U.S. defeated Poland 45–28 in the semifinals before falling in the final to the AIN squad, a team that included world champions Yana Egorian and Alina Mikhailova, 45–32, the USA women's saber team's first World Cup silver since 2023.[10] In April 2026, Chamberlain finished 6th, her highest individual World Cup finish, at the Athens Women's Sabre World Cup in Greece.[11] As of April 2026, she holds a world ranking of 14th (FIE) and is the #1-ranked Women's Sabre fencer in the United States.
Chamberlain was selected as one of twelve athletes for the inaugural World Fencing League (WFL), the first professional, televised fencing league, founded by Olympic medalist Miles Chamley-Watson. The inaugural event took place on April 25, 2026, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. She was one of only two American women selected for the WFL draft, alongside Olympic champion Lee Kiefer.[12]
Medal record
Olympic Games
| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Paris, France | Women's Sabre Team | 5th place |
Pan-American Championships
| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Individual Women's Sabre | 1st |
| 2025 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Team Women's Sabre | 1st |
Pan-American Games
| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Santiago, Chile | Team Women's Sabre | 1st |
| 2023 | Santiago, Chile | Individual Women's Sabre | 2nd |
World Championships
| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Milan, Italy | Team Women's Sabre | 7th |
| 2025 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Team Women's Sabre | Squad member |
Grand Prix
| Date | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-05 | Seoul, South Korea | Individual Women's Sabre | R16 |
World Cup
| Date | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd |
| 2026-04 | Athens, Greece | Individual Women's Sabre | 6th |
| 2023-05 | Batumi, Georgia | Team Women's Sabre | 2nd |
| 2024-04 | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | Individual Women's Sabre | R16 |
| 2024-01 | Tunis, Tunisia | Individual Women's Sabre | R16 |
| 2023-11 | Algiers, Algeria | Individual Women's Sabre | R16 |
| 2023-01 | Tunis, Tunisia | Individual Women's Sabre | R16 |
| 2022-11 | Algiers, Algeria | Individual Women's Sabre | R16 |
NCAA Championships
| Year | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Penn State, PA | Individual Women's Sabre | 1st, Champion |
| 2018 | Penn State, PA | Ivy League Individual | 1st, Champion |
| 2017, 2018, 2022 | — | All-American | Named (3×) |
| 2022 | — | NCAA Regional | 1st, Champion |
USA Fencing Division I
| Date | Location | Event | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2024 | Salt Lake City, UT | Division I National Championship | Gold |
| Oct 2025 | October NAC | Gold | |
| Jan 2024 | San Jose, CA | January NAC | Gold |
| Apr 2021 | Fort Worth, TX | April NAC | Gold |
| Jun 2018 | St. Louis, MO | Summer NAC | Gold |
| Jun 2017 | Salt Lake City, UT | Summer NAC | Gold |
| Jan 2016 | St. Louis, MO | Junior NAC | Gold |
Performance timeline
National team
Team events
| Event | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | NH | 5th | NH | |||
| World Championships | NH | 7th | NH | SF | NH | |
| Pan-American Championships | NH | G | NH | |||
| Pan-American Games | NH | G | NH | |||
| Pan-American Regionals | NH | G | NH | |||
World Cup (Team)
| Location | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia (Batumi) | NH | S | NH | |||
| Peru (Lima) | NH | W | NH | |||
| Uzbekistan (Tashkent) | NH | S | ||||
Individual
Major events
| Event | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | NH | QF | NH | |||
| World Championships | NH | A | NH | A | NH | |
| Pan-American Championships | NH | G | NH | |||
| Pan-American Games | NH | S | NH | |||
World Cup (Individual)
| Location | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria (Algiers) | NH | R16 | R16 | NH | ||
| Bulgaria (Plovdiv) | NH | R16 | NH | |||
| Georgia (Batumi) | NH | R16 | NH | |||
| Greece (Athens) | NH | 6th | ||||
| Tunisia (Tunis) | NH | R16 | R16 | NH | ||
Grand Prix (Individual)
| Location | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea (Seoul) | NH | R16 | NH | |||
Key: W/G = Won/Gold; F/S = Final/Silver; SF = Semifinal; QF = Quarterfinal; R16 = Round of 16; A = Did not advance; NH = Did not compete
Personal life
Chamberlain currently lives in New York City, where she trains full time. Outside of fencing, her interests include food tours and culinary arts, architecture, adventure travel, scuba diving, rock climbing, archery, skiing, and cycling. She serves as a mentor to developing fencers and is a board member of the fencing non-profit DoGood. Since 2024 she has served as the fencing coach at The Chapin School, a prestigious independent girls' school in New York City, and at Manhattan Fencing Center, a leading fencing club in the country. In high school, she founded the Global Health Club. From age nine, Chamberlain volunteered at St. Anthony's Church in Redwood City, California, participating in the annual toy drive for many years, and continues to serve as a soup kitchen volunteer at the church during the holidays.[2]
Media appearances
Chamberlain is widely recognized by the moniker "The Parry Queen", a nickname coined by fencing content creator @CyrusofChaos. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and CNN. She was the subject of a profile on CNBC's The Fencing Show (Episode 1), which also airs on Willow and TEGNA affiliates.[2]
Television and broadcast
| Year | Title / Outlet | Role / Segment | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | CNN (Coy Wire) | Interview subject | Live Paris Olympics broadcast, July 27, 2024 |
| 2024 | The Wall Street Journal | Featured profile | Front page, July 29, 2024, p. A14 |
| 2024– | CNBC The Fencing Show (Ep. 1) | Featured athlete | Also airs on Willow and TEGNA affiliates |
| 2026 | Journey to LA (Ep. 31) | Interview subject | USA Fencing series, April 2026[13] |
Selected online videos
- "When Maia Chamberlain Parried Literally Everything" – @CyrusofChaos. The video that originated the "Parry Queen" nickname.
- "A Dominant Performance from Maia Chamberlain" – @SlicerSaber. Highlights bouts at the 2025 Pan-American Championships finals.
- "Maia's favorite fencing touch is a Counter Parry" – @Ari Simmons. Showcases her signature Counter Parry move.
References
- ↑ "Maia Chamberlain – Athlete Profile". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Alumna Spotlight: Maia Chamberlain Shines at the Paris Summer Olympics". Silicon Valley International School. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ Cohen, Ben; Beaton, Andrew (July 29, 2024). "'Star Wars' Kicked Off Their Path to Olympics". The Wall Street Journal. p. A14.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Maia Chamberlain – Athlete Profile". USA Fencing. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Princeton In Paris: Maia Chamberlain". Princeton Athletics. July 18, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Maia Chamberlain Named Nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year". Princeton Athletics. July 15, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ Cohen, Ben; Beaton, Andrew (July 29, 2024). "'Star Wars' Kicked Off Their Path to Olympics". The Wall Street Journal. p. A14.
- ↑ "A Day in the Life: Maia Chamberlain". CNN. July 27, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ "2025 Pan-American Senior Championships Results". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 Tashkent World Cup Results". International Fencing Federation. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Hungary's Battai and Team France Win Sabre World Cup in Athens". International Fencing Federation. April 19, 2026. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ "World Fencing League: Miles Chamley-Watson's venture aims to shake up sport". The Japan Times. November 21, 2025. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Journey to LA – Interview Series". USA Fencing. Retrieved April 28, 2026.
External links
- Maia Chamberlain at the International Fencing Federation
- Maia Chamberlain at USA Fencing
- World Fencing League
Category:1998 births
Category:Living people
Category:American female fencers
Category:Sabre fencers
Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:Fencers at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Category:People from Palo Alto, California
Category:People from New York City
Category:21st-century American sportswomen
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