|
At the 1996 Atlanta Games, Tamir Bloom placed 31st in the individual epee and was a member of the U.S. epee team that finished eighth. Shortly thereafter, he began his studies at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in his hometown of New York City. While a full-time student, he continued fencing, earning his first two individual national titles in 1998 and 1999. At the end of a busy third year that cut into his training, Bloom stepped away from medical school for the 1999-2000 academic year to focus on preparing for Sydney. In May 2000, he went to the Western Hemisphere zonal qualification tournament in Buenos Aires in a final attempt to qualify for the Games; at this time, the epee was the one weapon lacking an American entrant. Bloom won the event to clinch a spot in his second Olympics.
Bloom has competed at four World Championships, with his best individual result being a 31 st place finish in 1994. He was unable to compete at the 1999 World Championships in Seoul because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Bloom made the trip to Seoul Korea without mentioning the injury, but days before the event he decided to withdraw. Since there was not enough time for an alternate to fly over and take his spot, the team's coach, four-time Olympian Michael Marx, took Bloom's spot; the American trio finished 15th, failing to earn the U.S. a berth in the team epee competition at the 2000 Olympics. Bloom missed a significant number of competitions while injured, but he made up for the absence by flying to a different country every weekend until he accumulated enough World Cup points to qualify individually for Sydney.
|
