RIO DE JANIERO, BRAZIL – Greg Massialas, father and coach of his son, Alexander, jubilantly described his son’s two-medal performance in the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. Alexander won a silver medal in fencing on August 7, followed by a bronze in the same sport on Aug. 9.
“I am very excited as a coach and a father,” Massialas told TNH, and added that although Alexander was disappointed that he didn’t win the gold, his father reassured him that “you did very well.”
Massialas said that he and his son will remain in Rio until the closing ceremonies, but now that the competition is over for them, they will get a chance to see the sights.
Alexander Massialas made history because it had been 32 years since the United States won any medal in fencing. His father was also an Olympian fencer, having competed in 1984 and 1988.
But the Massialas legacy in fencing does not end there. Alexander’s sister, Sabrina, he is 22 she is 19, won the gold medal in fencing in the 2014 Youth Olympics, at age 17, the first American in that competition ever to win the gold in that sport.