Keeth Thomas Smart[3] (born July 29, 1978) is an American saber fencer, who was the first American to gain the sport's top ranking for males in saber. A three-time Olympian, he won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in team sabre.[4][5]
Smart was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City.[6] His parents were Thomas R. Smart Jr. (a production manager[6] and later an economist) and Liz Smart (a teacher who had come to the United States from Jamaica).[3][7] At the urging of his parents, he and his younger sister Erinn began to learn fencing at the Peter Westbrook Foundation,[6] whose founder, Olympic sabre bronze-medalist Peter Westbrook, was his mentor.
Smart graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1996.[8] He graduated from St. John's University in New York City in 2001, majoring in finance.[8] He later received his MBA from Columbia University in 2010, and now works as a Senior Vice President for Chelsea Piers Fitness which he had joined in 2017.[6][9]
Smart's fencing coach was Yury Gelman.[1]
During college, Smart was the NCAA sabre champion in 1997 and 1999, and took second place in 2001.[10]
He was a member of the 1999 Pan American Games bronze medal team.
Smart competed in three Olympic Games in men's saber.[10] He placed 30th in the individual competition in the 2000 Olympic Games. He then placed 15th in the individual competition and 4th in the team competition at the 2004 Olympic Games.[1][10]
He placed 6th in the individual competition at the 2008 Olympic Games, and won a silver medal in the 2008 team event.[1][10] At the 2008 Summer Olympics, in the saber team semi-finals the United States had been losing to Russia 40-35, before Smart outscored Russian Stanislav Pozdnyakov 10-4 for the win, with Team USA beating the Russians 45-44, allowing the Americans to go on to win the silver medal.[11][12] It was the first Olympic medal for the US men's saber team since 1948.[1]
His sister Erinn also earned a silver medal as part of the US women's saber team at the 2008 Olympics.[6][1]
In 2002 and 2004, Smart won the US national sabre championship. In 2003, he became the first American to be named the top-ranked fencer internationally.[1][2][13]
Keeth married Shyra (Cooper) Smart on May 27, 2007. in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[3] They live in Brooklyn, New York, with their two children. Keeth and his sister Erinn are actively involved in the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York City.