Alexander Chen Massialas ( ; ; born April 20, 1994) (alternate link) is an American right-handed foil fencer. He is a two-time NCAA champion, 14-time team Pan American champion, four-time individual Pan American champion, and 2019 team world champion who is currently the fencing coach for the Stanford Cardinal.

A four-time Olympian, Massialas first competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, where he was the youngest male athlete representing the United States. He later won the Olympic silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics Individual Men's Foil competition and is a two-time team Olympic bronze medalist, first at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for men's team foil and then at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics for men's team foil.

Early life and education Massialas was born and raised in San Francisco, California, to a Taiwanese American mother and a father of Greek descent. His mother, Chwan-Hui Chen, immigrated from Taiwan to attend graduate school in the United States, where she studied piano and pedagogy. Massialas' maternal grandfather ran a Taiwanese company, King Chong Hong (Chinese: 慶昌行), which imported Asian ingredients and utensils to the U.S. In 2021, Massialas recalled in an interview, "I have always been extremely proud of my Taiwanese heritage and I jump at any opportunity to return to Taiwan".

Massialas' father, Greg Massialas, fenced for the United States in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics, and has coached the American national foil team. Massialas' sister, Sabrina, is also an Olympic fencer.

From pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, Massialas was enrolled in the Chinese American International School in San Francisco, California, where he began fencing as a child. After graduating from the Drew School, he attended Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in mechanical engineering in 2017. In July 2023, Massialas worked at MHC Engineers, a mechanical engineering firm owned by his maternal uncle, Meng Hsiu-Chen.

Fencing career After he showed spontaneous interest at an early age, his father made him wait until he was seven years old to begin training.

An athletic child, Massialas played soccer and made the basketball and the swimming teams at Drew School. He enrolled at Stanford University on a fencing scholarship in the fall of 2012. He closed his freshman season by winning the 2013 NCAA title in individual men's foil. He repeated this feat in 2015, after falling to David Willette in 2014's semifinal round.

In July 2024, Massialas was named the head fencing coach for the Stanford Cardinal.

Medal record

Olympic Games YearLocationEventPosition2016 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilIndividual Men's Foil2nd2016 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilTeam Men's Foil3rd2021 Tokyo, JapanTeam Men's Foil3rd

World Championship YearLocationEventPosition2013 Budapest, HungaryTeam Men's Foil2nd2015 Moscow, RussiaIndividual Men's Foil2nd2017 Leipzig, GermanyTeam Men's Foil2nd2018 Wuxi, ChinaTeam Men's Foil2nd2019 Budapest, HungaryTeam Men's Foil1st2022 Cairo, EgyptTeam Men's Foil2nd2025 Tbilisi, GeorgiaTeam Men's Foil2nd

Grand Prix DateLocationEventPosition2013-03-04 St. Petersburg, RussiaIndividual Men's Foil2nd2014-05-03 Tokyo, JapanIndividual Men's Foil3rd2015-03-13 Havana, CubaIndividual Men's Foil2nd2016-06-03 Shanghai, ChinaIndividual Men's Foil1st2016-12-02 Turin, ItalyIndividual Men's Foil2nd2017-03-17 Long Beach, CaliforniaIndividual Men's Foil2nd2017-12-01 Turin, ItalyIndividual Men's Foil1st2020-02-07 Turin, ItalyIndividual Men's Foil2nd2023-05-19 Shanghai, ChinaIndividual Men's Foil1st

World Cup DateLocationEventPosition2010-05-29 Montreal, CanadaIndividual Men's Foil3rd2011-05-20 Seoul, South KoreaIndividual Men's Foil3rd2012-01-27 Paris, FranceIndividual Men's Foil3rd2013-02-22 A Coruña, SpainIndividual Men's Foil3rd2014-04-25 Seoul, South KoreaIndividual Men's Foil1st2015-01-16 Paris, FranceIndividual Men's Foil3rd2015-11-06 Tokyo, JapanIndividual Men's Foil1st2017-01-20 Paris, FranceIndividual Men's Foil1st2018-02-09 Bonn, GermanyIndividual Men's Foil2nd2019-03-01 Cairo, EgyptIndividual Men's Foil3rd2020-02-21 Cairo, EgyptIndividual Men's Foil3rd2023-05-07 Acapulco, MexicoTeam Men's Foil1st2023-11-10 Istanbul, TurkeyIndividual Men's Foil1st2023-12-09 Tokoname, JapanIndividual Men's Foil1st2024-11-22 Tunis, TunisiaIndividual Men's Foil1st2024-11-24 Tunis, TunisiaTeam Men's Foil2nd2024-12-06 Takasaki, JapanIndividual Men's Foil3rd2024-12-08 Takasaki, JapanTeam Men's Foil2nd2025-01-10 Paris, FranceIndividual Men's Foil2nd2025-01-12 Paris, FranceTeam Men's Foil3rd2025-05-02 Vancouver, CanadaIndividual Men's Foil1st2025-05-04 Vancouver, CanadaTeam Men's Foil1st2025-12-05 Fukuoka, JapanIndividual Men's Foil3rd2026-01-09 Paris, FranceIndividual Men's Foil1st2026-01-11 Paris, FranceTeam Men's Foil2nd2026-04-19 Cairo, EgyptTeam Men's Foil3rd

Pan American Championship YearLocationEventPosition2009 San Salvador, El SalvadorTeam Men's Foil1st2010 San José, Costa RicaIndividual Men's Foil3rd2010 San José, Costa RicaTeam Men's Foil1st2011 Reno, NevadaIndividual Men's Foil2nd2011 Reno, NevadaTeam Men's Foil1st2012 Cancún, MexicoIndividual Men's Foil2nd2012 Cancún, MexicoTeam Men's Foil1st2013 Cartagena, ColombiaTeam Men's Foil1st2014 San José, Costa RicaIndividual Men's Foil2nd2015 Santiago, ChileIndividual Men's Foil2nd2015 Santiago, ChileTeam Men's Foil1st2016 Panama City, PanamaIndividual Men's Foil1st2016 Panama City, PanamaTeam Men's Foil1st2017 Montreal, CanadaIndividual Men's Foil2nd2017 Montreal, CanadaTeam Men's Foil1st2018 Havana, CubaIndividual Men's Foil3rd2018 Havana, CubaTeam Men's Foil1st2019 Toronto, CanadaIndividual Men's Foil3rd2019 Toronto, CanadaTeam Men's Foil1st2022 Asunción, ParaguayIndividual Men's Foil1st2022 Asunción, ParaguayTeam Men's Foil1st2023 Lima, PeruIndividual Men's Foil3rd2023 Lima, PeruTeam Men's Foil1st2024 Lima, PeruIndividual Men's Foil3rd2024 Lima, PeruTeam Men's Foil1st2025 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilIndividual Men's Foil1st2026 Lima, PeruIndividual Men's Foil1st2026 Lima, PeruTeam Men's Foil1st

See also List of USFA Division I National Champions List of NCAA fencing champions

References

External links

Alexander Massialas at USA Fencing