Curtis McDowald

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Curtis McDowald

| full_name =

| image =

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| nationality = {{USA}}

| sport = Fencing

| event = épée

| club = Peter Westbrook Foundation

| collegeteam =St. John’s University

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1996|1|23|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Queens, New York City, United States

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height =

| weight =

|medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's fencing}}

{{MedalCountry|{{USA}}}}

{{MedalGold|{{nowrap|2023 Santiago}}|{{nowrap|Team épée}}}}

}}

Curtis McDowald (born January 23, 1996) is an American épée fencer. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics. McDowald is currently on a temporary suspension issue by USA Fencing in November 2023 pending investigation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2023/11/04/curtis-mcdowald-fencer-suspended-safesport/71454246007/|title=U.S. fencer Curtis McDowald suspended for allegations of misconduct|website=USA TODAY|author=Josh Peter|date=November 4, 2023}}

Early life

McDowald was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200225091248/https://www.teamusa.org/usa-fencing/athletes/Curtis-McDowald "Curtis McDowald"], Team USA. His mother, Demetria Goodwin, works at the Riker's Island jail.{{Cite web|url=https://patch.com/new-york/queens/queens-athlete-headed-his-1st-olympic-games|title=This Queens Athlete Is Headed To His 1st Olympic Games|date=July 21, 2021|website=Queens, NY Patch|author=Kayla Levy}} He attended the Dwight School, a college preparatory school on Central Park West on Manhattan's Upper West Side in New York City, for high school.

Fencing career

=Early years=

McDowald began fencing at 12 years of age.{{Cite web|url=http://fie.org/athletes/36515|title=McDowald Curtis|website=The International Fencing Federation }} He attended St. John's University ('18), in Queens, New York, where he fenced for the St. John's Red Storm. His fencing club is the Peter Westbrook Foundation.

In 2017, the Queens Newsletter reported that former Olympic bronze medalist Peter Westbrook "remembered a much different McDowald, a young and smug one, when he began fencing. He recalled his initial doubts about his character... 'Now, he’s become humble,' Westbrook said. 'One day, Curtis is going to make that Olympic team. Before, he couldn’t because his pride and ego got in the way. We smacked that out of him...'"{{Cite web|url=https://qns.com/2017/10/amateur-fencer-making-strides-at-st-johns/|title=Amateur fencer making strides at St. John's |first=Angelica|last=Acevedo|date=October 15, 2017|website=Queens Newsletter}}

In June 2018 he won a bronze medal in épée at the 2018 Pan American Fencing Championships. In March 2019 McDowald won a bronze medal at a Buenos Aires Fencing World Cup in Argentina.

=2020—present=

He competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he lost in his opening round of individual épée, and fenced with the US epee squad that lost in its opening round of team épée.{{Cite web|url=https://astoriapost.com/several-athletes-at-the-tokyo-olympics-come-from-queens|title=Several Athletes at the Tokyo Olympics Come From Queens|author= Michael Dorgan|date=July 29, 2021|website=Astoria Post}}{{Cite web|url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/fencing/athlete-profile-n1310019-mcdowald-curtis.htm|title=Fencing - McDOWALD Curtis|work=Tokyo 2020 Olympics|publisher=Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games|access-date=2021-08-02|archive-date=2021-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802184940/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/fencing/athlete-profile-n1310019-mcdowald-curtis.htm|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/fencers-pink-masks-alen-hadzic|title=US Olympic Fencers Wore Pink Masks To Protest Against Their Teammate Accused Of Sexual Assault; Three men on the US épée team took a stand against their teammate Alen Hadzic's inclusion in the Olympics despite sexual assault allegations against him.|author=Tasneem Nashrulla, Brianna Sacks|date=July 30, 2021|website=BuzzFeed News}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/olympics-pink-masks-us-fencing-team|title=At the Olympics, Pink Masks Divided the Men's Fencing Team|date=August 2, 2021|website=Vogue|author=Christian Allaire}} In 2021, a GQ journalist described his personal admiration for McDowald, but noted that he was in the minority and that one commenter feared McDowald's approach to fencing would lead to it being "full of disrespectful trash players."{{Cite web|url=https://www.gq.com/story/curtis-mcdowald-olympic-fencing-profile|title=On Guard: Curtis McDowald Is Fighting His Way to the Top of the Fencing World|date=July 6, 2021|website=GQ}} In June 2023 McDowald was ranked 57th in the world in épée.

In June 2023, USA Today reported that McDowald through his misbehavior may have destroyed the opportunity of his entire Team USA men's épée squad to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/sports/usa-fencings-olympic-hopes-jeopardy-members-outburst-leads-disqualification-pan-am-games|title=USA Fencing's Olympic hopes in jeopardy after member's outburst leads to disqualification at Pan-Am Games|first=Ryan|last=Morik|date=June 21, 2023|website=Fox News}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2023/06/21/paris-olympics-american-fencer-outburst-could-cost-team-roster-spot/70341761007/|title=Fencer's outburst could cost US team berth at 2024 Paris Olympics|website=USA TODAY|author=Tom Schad|date=June 21, 2023}} McDowald was fencing as part of the squad in the semi-finals at the Pan American Fencing Championships in Lima, Peru. After he was penalized for misbehavior lost the match, when his opponent extended his hand seeking a post-match handshake, instead McDowald angrily slapped the fencer's hand. He then had an angry outburst and kicked a free-standing banner adjacent to the competition area, putting his foot through it.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahQmXkKxV3I|title=Angry Fencer Gets Entire Team USA Excluded|via=youtube|date=June 20, 2023}} Because of his actions, the entire U.S. men's épée team was completely disqualified, preventing it from competing in the bronze-medal match, and was not given a finishing position at the tournament.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/sports/us-fencer-who-hurt-teams-olympic-chances-suspended-misconduct-allegations|title=US fencer who hurt team's Olympic chances suspended for misconduct allegations; Curtis McDowald got the U.S. team DQ'd from the Pan-Am Senior Championships|first=Ryan|last=Morik|date=November 4, 2023|website=Fox News}} It was thereby stripped of its accumulated points, and left with zero Olympic qualifying points.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usafencing.org/news_article/show/1277200-usa-fencing-statement-on-men-s-epee-team-exclusion-at-2023-pan-american-championships|title=USA Fencing Statement on Men's Epee Team Exclusion at 2023 Pan-American Championships|first=Bryan|last=Wendell|date=June 20, 2023|website=USA Fencing}} The U.S. had entered the Games as the top-ranked team in the event.

USA Fencing released a statement saying: "We are disappointed by Curtis's actions and regret that they have harmed Team USA's chances of fielding a men's épée team for the 2024 Olympics." It said McDowald would not be eligible to compete at the 2023 Fencing World Championships.

In the fall of 2023, McDowald competed at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, as a member of the U.S. men's épée team that won the gold medal. He was required to stay in a separate hotel away from the Athlete Village, because of an ongoing investigation into a prior incident over which the U.S. Center for SafeSport (SafeSport) had exercised jurisdiction.{{cite web |last1=Peter |first1= Josh |title=U.S. fencer Curtis McDowald suspended for allegations of misconduct |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2023/11/04/curtis-mcdowald-fencer-suspended-safesport/71454246007/ |website=USA TODAY |access-date=November 24, 2023 |date=November 4, 2023}}

Subsequently, on November 3, 2023, McDowald was temporarily suspended by USA Fencing due to allegations that he had engaged in misconduct in an unrelated incident. He was prohibited from being present at any USA Fencing sanctioned event, club, meeting, facility, education session, or otherwise. SafeSport upheld the temporary suspension, and exercised jurisdiction over the matter.{{Cite web|url=https://uscenterforsafesport.org/response-and-resolution/centralized-disciplinary-database/|title=Centralized Disciplinary Database | U.S. Center for SafeSport}}