Catherine Zagunis
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born (1952-09-09) September 9, 1952
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Sport
SportRowing

Catherine Zagunis (née Menges) (born September 9, 1952) is an American rower. She competed in the women's coxed four event at the 1976 Summer Olympics during the first appearance of the event in the Olympic Games.[1]

Personal life

Menges is the mother of Mariel Zagunis, the most decorated American fencer in history.[2] Her two sons, Merrick who is older than Mariel and Marten who is younger, are champion fencers.[3] Her former husband, Robert Zagunis, was a fellow competitive rower who also competed in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.[4] The pair divorced in 2004.[5]

Fencing

Since 1998, Zagunis has been the director of programs at the Oregon Fencing Alliance. Zagunis managed the United States teams at the Junior and Senior World Championships in 1999, 2000, and 2001. She was the squad manager for the USA Fencing Women's Sabre Squad from 2005 to 2017. At The Oregon Fencing Alliance (OFA), she works closely with U.S. Women's Sabre Coach Ed Korfanty to develop marketing, create programs, and manage the fencing activities of OFA.[6] Zagunis was asked to take over the leadership role by OFA founder Colleen Olney on a trip to the Junior Olympics when Olney knew that she was not going to be able to continue to run the program. At that point, Zagunis had been heavily involved in travel and support of OFA while Mariel and her two sons competed nationally.[7]

Zagunis's support of her daughter Mariel to the top of the fencing world has led to her becoming an authority on parenting champions.[8] She is an outspoken advocate for a measured approach to sports parenting that does not focus on achievement but instead on balance. Zagunis has attended all of Mariel's major competitions throughout her long career. Zagunis was consistently involved in her daughter's career through the Olympic Games in Rio.[9]

Following the birth of Mariel's first child in 2017, Cathy's role shifted to helping care for her granddaughter while Mariel continued to pursue high level fencing.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Catherine Menges Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Mariel Zagunis' honor as U.S flag bearer has family scrambling to attend Olympic Opening Ceremony". Oregon Live. Advance Local. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Mariel Zagunis Biography". Players Wiki. Players Wiki. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Everything you need to know about Beaverton Olympian Mariel Zagunis". Yahoo Sports. Yahoo. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  5. ↑ Hersh, Phillip. "The greatest Olympic athlete you've probably never heard of". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Coaches & Staff". Oregon Fencing Alliance. Oregon Fencing Alliance. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  7. ↑ Chirashnya, Igor. "Refreshing Olympic Parenting Insight with Cathy Zagunis". Academy of Fencing Masters. Academy of Fencing Masters. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  8. ↑ Rogers, Jason. "WORKING TOGETHER TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S FENCING". Better Fencer. Better Fencer. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  9. ↑ Staff, KGW. "Mom steps in after Mariel Zagunis' Olympic bag, gear lost in transit". KGW 8. KGW-TV. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  10. ↑ Eggers, Kerry. "Mom, medalist back on point". Portland Tribune. Pamplin Media. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
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