Today's guest is Courtney Hurley, a three time Olympian and Olympic bronze medalist in the women's épée team event at the London 2012 games.
Courtney's journey through the world of fencing spans over two decades, showcasing her resilience, skill, and passion for the sport. From her collegiate days at Notre Dame, to her recent coaching role at the University of the Incarnate Word. So much in between Courtney's story is inspiring, it's a story of dedication and success.
Today, we're going to talk about that career, and her adventures on and off the strip, and then what life looks like through the eyes of an Olympic medalist.
[0:00:01] BW: Hello, and welcome to First to 15, the official podcast of USA Fencing. I'm your host, Bryan Wendell, and in this show, you're going to hear from some of the most inspiring, interesting, and insanely talented people in the sport we all love. First to 15 is for anyone in the fencing community, and even for those just checking out fencing to see what it's all about. Whether you're an Olympian or a Paralympian, a newcomer, a seasoned veteran, a fencing parent, a fan, or anyone else in this wonderful community, this podcast is for you. With that, let's get to today's episode. Enjoy.
[EPISODE]
[0:00:40] BW: All right. Today's guest is Courtney Hurley, a three time Olympian and Olympic bronze medalist in the women's épée team event at the London 2012 games. Courtney's journey through the world of fencing spans over two decades, showcasing her resilience, skill, and passion for the sport. From her collegiate days at Notre Dame, to her recent coaching role at the University of the Incarnate Word. So much in between Courtney's story is inspiring, it's a story of dedication and success. Today, we're going to talk about that career, and her adventures on and off the strip, and then what life looks like through the eyes of an Olympic medalist. Hey, Courtney. Welcome to the podcast.
[0:01:15] CH: Hello. Thank you for that awesome introduction.
[0:01:18] BW: It's an honor to meet you and chat with you. I want to start by talking about like how you got into fencing. I think you were eight when you started, right? What brought you into the sport?
[0:01:28] CH: Our parents were fencers. It's not as like – I mean, it's a cool story, but there's a lot of really interesting ways people get into fencing. But yes, our parents were fencer, so we kind of just were born into it. That's how they met, was through fencing, so it was a family sport.
[0:01:44] BW: When you say our, you're obviously – for those who don't know, I'm talking about you and Kelly, your older sister, who's also a fencer and Olympian herself. Did she start before you did? What was that like?
[0:01:55] CH: Yes. l say we a lot, because I do – like my involvement with the sport is definitely tied with my sister mostly. I mean, we kind of started the same time, around six, eight. I don't know, but it's kind of like – we kind of came out fencing. I don't really remember exactly when, but I think we started like competing around eight, 10, because she's two and a half years older than me. We just never really questioned it, we kind of just fence, then that was what we did. So, we started really young and never looked back.
[0:02:25] BW: I like to ask this of Olympians. When did you realize that you were pretty good? Was there a specific tournament, or a moment, or was it not even until you qualified for that first Olympic team? When were you like, "Okay, I'm actually not just having fun at this, but I'm really good at it"?
[0:02:42] CH: Well, it kind of – I think more of my sister, because she was two and a half years older, so she was doing the international stuff before I was. Because you're not allowed to compete unless you're like 13, or 14, or whatever it is. She barely missed qualifying for the Athens Olympics in 2004, and she was 16 at the time. It was by accident, she had two good results internationally, and we didn't even know until like the last competition that she barely miss qualification. That was when we're like, "Oh, okay. We can do this." Then, it was really solidified whenever we won both, we won the cadet World Championships each. She won in 2005, and then I won the next year, in 2006. That was really when it solidified everything. We're like, "Okay, we're going to go all the way here."
[0:03:33] BW: Yes. We hear about siblings and fencing fairly – I wouldn't say often, but we've heard that story before, but not so much two siblings on the same team, competing in the same team event together. What were those team events like, competing alongside your sister, including at the highest level at the Olympics, where you have a slightly different dynamic than the other members of the team?
[0:03:58] CH: I wouldn't trade it for the world. I mean, we say that all the time that that was a big reason we were so successful, and we were able to last for so long in the sport, because it's a very individual sport, and it can be quite lonely, because it's very competitive. And your friends, you're still competing against your friends at the end of the day, and so it can be a lonely, tough sport. So, to have somebody in your pocket, always cheering, always on your side no matter what, it was a huge reason why we're so successful. So yes, nothing – and winning the bronze together, just such an amazing story. It was such an amazing moment to share that with her, and to continue sharing with that with her throughout our career. I can't even describe it with words almost.
[0:04:46] BW: Yes, that's so cool, and it meant a lot not just for you, but also for the women's épée program in this country. But I'm going to go back a little bit and talk about Notre Dame. You were a two-time NCAA champion there at Notre Dame. How did collegiate fencing kind of shape your career and even who you are as a person?
[0:05:06] CH: Yes. I mean, collegiate fencing is definitely a different beast than everything else. I mean, it's a completely different format. It's a completely, like I said, fencing is a very individual sport, so to be thrown into like, with a team, and that people rely on you, and support you, yes, it's a totally – I would say, the Olympics is the most nerve-wracking tournament, but right below it is NCAAs, because you just have the whole team like – I remember one time, I was like, freaking out, I had just lost a match at the NCAA competition. I was like, "Ah." My mom was like, "Oh, you're still going to be in top four" and I was like, "Well, that's not really what I'm worried about. I'm worried about, I just lost one for the team." It was the feeling I'd never felt before, yes, because it's individual, but it's also the team, the whole team.
It definitely taught me how to be more part of a team, and be more supportive of other people, and have more empathy. I mean, that's kind of why being a coach now, I understand the process. It's a very hard process. When you're a student, you're at an age where you're going through so many changes, and you have all the pressures of school and academic. So, it teaches you a lot of lessons for sure.
[0:06:17] BW: You were having to jump back and forth between international competition and collegiate competition too. How did you manage your schedule? Even, you talked about being a cadet world champion, and then, obviously, that would have been before we even started at Notre Dame. How did you jump between those two worlds so seamlessly, or were there challenges maybe?
[0:06:37] CH: Yeah, definitely. I mean, for me, which is not the case for most people, but fencing was definitely my priority. Academics was kind of second. Definitely, my goal was to just graduate at Notre Dame, but I wasn't so worried about my major, or what most people are worried about. Which, I don't really like to tell that story, because it's not maybe a good lesson for younger, but there's just different priorities for different people. Having that priority is definitely a big reason why I got full scholarship, we both got full scholarships at Notre Dame, because fencing is a priority.
Traveling all the time while we were in college, it was – I mean, we were kind of used to it, because we traveled all the time when we were in high school. But college is definitely a lot harder. Notre Dame was definitely a lot harder. But that's a big reason why I love Notre Dame, is because they were so helpful and lenient to athletes and traveling. That's one of the biggest things, and so teachers were very lenient for when you would travel and everything. But yes, one year, we were doing – few years, junior, senior competitions, and NCAA competition, so it was a lot, there's a lot.
[0:07:44] BW: Something every weekend, right?
[0:07:45] CH: Yes, basically.
[0:07:47] BW: And it probably helps to go to a school where fencing is kind of established, I would imagine, right? Because you don't have to explain to your professors, "Hey, I'm on the fencing team." They're like, "Oh, we have we have a fencing team at Notre Dame." It's well known. That's continued even after you left, that program has continued to be so strong. When you were there, were you thinking like coaching might be in your future? Was that already on your radar, collegiate coaching?
[0:08:14] CH: Not at all. Not at all. While I was fencing, honestly, I was just thinking about fencing. I was just eye on the price. That was that throughout my entire career. It wasn't until almost a few years after I retired, semi-retired that I started thinking about it. It just came so naturally, it just came very naturally, and that was why I kind of steered into it. But I think it's a huge help that I went through all those experiences that I know, all the experiences that a fencer can go through. So it definitely has helped significantly, I feel, my credentials as a coach.
[0:08:52] BW: Yes. Yes. And obviously, they saw something in you because you were an assistant coach at Notre Dame. Then, now, you're at the University of Incarnate Word. I just saw recently, you were named MPSF Assistant Coach of the Year, so congratulations.
[0:09:06] CH: Thank you. Yes, that was pretty exciting.
[0:09:08] BW: Yes, that's so great. What do you love about that role? What excites you about coaching now?
[0:09:14] CH: I love helping people. That's the big thing. With college, I really feel that my helping helps the most at that age, at that level. It's the most fun for me, I think helping with kids a little older. Also, again, like not many coaches, like in the college scene have actually competed and did NCAA fencing. I feel that I can help a little bit more whenever you go through those experiences, you understand those experiences, and can help navigate a little bit more. It's a fun environment, the college team. I definitely do both. I work at a fencing club. I work with all ages, and it's just really fun helping, and passing along my knowledge because I don't want to keep all my knowledge to myself. So I really want to pass on my knowledge as much as I can. I was even like that, I feel as an athlete, I wanted to like pass on my knowledge, whoever wanted to know. So, it kind of just came naturally.
[0:10:14] BW: Do you find yourself having to coach in a specific way for people who aren't used to that NCAA environment? In other words, you've got fencers who come to your school from all different clubs, and all different backgrounds. So their home club might have taught them one thing, and then when they come to UIW now, at the at a minimum, they're having to learn the NCAA fencing, and how that works. But. might even need to adapt their style to that specific format. Has that presented any challenges or have you been kind of ready for it since you know that world so well?
[0:10:48] CH: Yes. I would say, like I said, NCAA format is very different than anything anybody's ever done. But the pressures, like I said, like Olympics, NCAAs, so the pressures are very tough to deal with. It's not only like yourself, which is also one of the big things. A lot of people don't really continue fencing after college, they fence in college, and like that's the big thing. It's a big moment for so many reasons, and so there's a lot of pressures internally and externally. So I tried helping with those kinds of pressures, because that's something that a lot of people don't continue with fencing because they get burnt out or whatever in college. I mean, also, resources.
But one of them is also, I feel the environment of college can really turn you off, because it's so many pressures, and it gets so burnt out. I see that a lot. People are just kind of unhappy because of how much pressure it is. I know I keep saying that. It's interesting, as being a coach, I want everyone to win and I want – I just want everyone to feel good at the end of the day. I don't really, like winning is not the end, like the super important. I mean, it is important, but it's not like, I get upset if anybody loses like, which is interesting because of how competitive I was as an athlete. and how much I really wanted to win. But I just know that fencing is a really, really hard sport, and it's really hard to win. It's really hard. All these pressures just make it 10 times harder, and so I just tried to guide people with those pressures, and try to lessen those kinds of pressures to people.
[0:12:25] BW: Can we dive into something you mentioned, which is the concept of quitting after college, and we do lose a lot of fencers after college. We know for a fact that athletes can still be competitive in their glory days, could still be ahead of them in fencing after college. Especially in épée, where it seems like the average age of Olympians and Olympic champions is older than college age, right? What can be done by USA fencing, by colleges maybe, by coaches to encourage athletes to stay in after college? What is the cause of that drop off, since you've seen it happen?
[0:13:00] CH: Yes. I mean, I would say, the number one is, resources, it's the money.
[0:13:04] BW: It's the cost, right?
[0:13:05] CH: That's the number one for sure. There's not – I mean, most people, they go to college to have a good degree, and get a good job after. So, there's not any time if you want to do that defense on the side, if you want to go the extra miles. So, it's not only resources, but a system in place where you can go and train, and like for instance, the Olympic Training Center, like that kind of resource where you can go and train as a team, or whatever, and live there.
[0:13:35] BW: Be a full-time athlete.
[0:13:36] CH: Yes, full-time athlete. Or, even like a part-time athlete in some way, because I know that's possible for some people, like part-time. But yes, more of a system in place, and also, resources. Those are the big ones. Those are the big ones.
[0:13:52] BW: Obviously, having a system like that is going to create more Olympians, and an Olympic medalist like yourself. So, we got to go back to 2012 when you got that bronze medal. What do you remember from that moment? What do you feel like looking back on it now? What's the significance of that moment for yourself, and for team USA?
[0:14:13] CH: I don't remember much about it. I blacked out. No, I mean, it was such an amazing experience. It was interesting, because that Olympic mindset, which is an interesting mindset I've kind of seen over the years. That if you have that mindset of, you're just coming into having fun, you're just happy to be there, that you're going to perform pretty well. Whereas, people come in with a lot of pressure to win or whatever, they maybe don't do as well. Because, we came into that Olympics like, "We're just here. We're just going to have a good time." We're just like, "No pressure at all."
[0:14:49] BW: So not metal favorites, in other words.
[0:14:50] CH: Yes, exactly. We weren't favorites at all. My sister barely qualified for that Olympics, and that's another like that's another – people who maybe weren't supposed to qualify, or barely qualified have that just no pressure, they're just like happy to be there. As a team, we hadn't really performed that well up until that point. So again, we had no pressure, and we were just happy to be there. We fenced Russia for the bronze, and they had all the pressure on them to not only get a medal, but beat the USA. You could see it in their fencing, had all the pressure. And we were just, "La la la. Happy to be here." So it really makes a difference, because the Olympics only happens once every four years. It's impossible to train for that kind of environment, that kind of situation. So that kind of mindset really makes a difference.
[0:15:37] BW: Yes, and it really did. Having been to three Olympics, did your mindset going into each one differ at all? Or how did you evolve from 2012 to Tokyo?
[0:15:51] CH: Yes, definitely did. Definitely did. I mean, I don't like to – maybe, because I lost – I mean, I won a priority in London. Then in Rio, I lost some priority. I want to be like, "It's a give and take. It's a give and take. The Olympics giveth and taketh away." Yes, Rio was very heartbreaking, but we did have a slightly different mindset. Because, even though we weren't the best team, we had won the medal in London, and we've been performing a lot better than we did used to. That definitely shift the mindset. It was a tough, tough loss, because we lost Romanian overtime, and I lost the Romanian overtime. Losing overtime in the Olympics is – I mean, winning is such an amazing experience, but losing is in overtime situation is devastating. It's devastating. Especially for like team, your whole team is there. It's devastating. I was very sad after Rio. I also, individually, lost in overtime as well, so it was also very devastating. So yes, Olympics giveth and taketh.
[0:16:49] BW: Like you said, that's not something you can't even train for, those priority moments, I would imagine, with the ultimate pressure coming down to just a single touch. And your four years of training and work for like a single touch. There's just no way to train for it.
[0:17:06] CH: Not the Olympic level. I mean, you can train in the priority touch simulations, but there's just no way you can simulate the Olympics. I mean, yes, again, the Olympics is a lot of luck, it's a lot of luck. There was some bad luck going on in the Rio Olympics, I feel, but there was so much good luck in London. We're very luck-oriented family. We believe in the luck.
[0:17:31] BW: Some people say that épée – do subscribe to that notion that épée is the weapon that involves the most like swings of not luck, but just, anybody can win on any day kind of mentality. Do you believe in that theory?
[0:17:47] CH: Yes. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Anybody can win and anybody can lose. It's definitely the sport that keeps you humble, and keeps you wanting more, for sure.
[0:17:57] BW: Moving on to your life outside of fencing. Anybody who follows you on Instagram, that Hurley girl knows that you have a van that you sometimes travel the country in. Can you tell me the story behind that? Because I think anybody who loves exploring this country sees that and is like kind of inspired. I know I have been, I'm like, "She's doing it right." What sparked that? What's the story there?
[0:18:23] CH: I had wanted to do it for many years, because I love my dogs. My dogs are my whole life outside of fencing. I really wanted to travel with them, and it just made sense that the van is the best way to travel with them, because I don't travel with them in the airplane, obviously. I just really wanted to travel with my dogs, and I want – and also, the thought of, because I'd always lived – at that point, I had always lived with my sister, almost always, or my family, so I really craved the independence. That was the main reasons for driving that.
Then, I really wanted to do it after the Tokyo Olympics, but when the Tokyo Olympics got postponed a year, I just decided to. Because at that point, we all thought the Olympics weren't going to happen, so I just took off in the van. Well, that was my first. Well, actually, my first trip – actually, we moved to Paris for almost a year and a half. At the end of that trip, I decided to rent a van in Europe with my dogs. We flew our dogs over to Europe, Paris, and they I rented a van in Europe. That was a really amazing experience driving from France, to Italy, to Croatia, to Slovenia, Switzerland with the dogs. That was really –
[0:19:33] BW: They're just some well-travelled pups.
[0:19:35] CH: Yes, yes. They've been to a lot of places. They went to England also, so they have been in a lot of places. But that was really – I was kind of testing it to see if like – and it definitely was amazing. That was my first trip and that was in 2019. Then, yes, when the Olympics were postponed a year, I decided to just kind of do it. I wasn't going to wait another however long it was going to take, I wasn't going to put everything on pause. So, I traveled during like later COVID, 2020 for a few months, and it was such an amazing experience. It was kind of surreal, because still, people weren't out. It was very empty; everything was pretty empty. I mostly stayed like out in the wilderness, but it was very empty, but it was kind of cool. Kind of surreal, like a movie, or something, like a deserted world. It was an interesting, amazing experience. That was the longest trip I've ever done. That was like three or so months, three, four months. That was the longest trip I've ever taken. But here and there, I've taken like a month or so trips. Actually, coming up next week, I'm actually going on a month trip, so I'm very excited.
[0:20:45] BW: I'm sure the dogs are too, and you take some great photos of your dogs, and them enjoying the travels, and their explorations too. It's obvious that the dogs are having a good time, but what do you get out of the travel? Because obviously, if you're getting ready to go on another one, it's fulfilling to you as well.
[0:21:01] CH: Yes. I do a van trip, I would say once or twice a year, and it just – every time after, I just feel so like reset, and I just feel calm. Every time is such an amazing experience. Just so many cool things happen, and I feel like I can see life clearly again. I don't know, it's just my therapy almost. Going with my dogs, and just being totally independent, and seeing so many cool things, and seeing so many cool people. One of the cool things I love doing is going to different fencing clubs, and I go, and sometimes, I'll host clinics, or I'll just fence. That's really cool experience to meeting all the fencers across different fencing clubs.
[0:21:43] BW: Yes, I noticed that you'll post about that, that you stopped by these clubs and share a little bit of your wisdom in-person with them. Which is super inspiring to see how you're passing that along and kind of translating those competitive experiences you've had into lessons that you can share with students who want to be like us someday, frankly. One of the highlights that we have to mention, we talk a lot about the Olympics, and that's what gets a lot of attention outside the sport. But everybody who follows fencing knows that the World Championships are almost as big, they're huge. Can we talk about 2018, where the women's épée team got a gold medal in the team event, and you got a bronze at that tournament too. What was that like coming back with two metals from, really the highest level that the FIE has to offer?
[0:22:31] CH: I feel I should retire after that. I should have hung the hat off. It was, yeah, 2018. I mean, not right before COVID, but pretty soon, I should have known. No, yes. I mean, like once in a lifetime, it was amazing. I mean, winning. There were several overtime matches in both individual and team, and the team match were – what kind of was more inspiring is, I had always been the anchor position on the woman's épée team for many, many, many, many years. And 2017, 2018 is when I decided, "Okay, I can't do this anymore. I'm tired." I was very emotionally hurt from the Rio Olympics when I lost in overtime. And I tried for like another year or so, and there was another few overtimes I lost, and I said, "Okay. My emotions can't take this anymore, we got to change." My sister never really wanted to do the position or could do the decision, because of pressure. She just couldn't handle the certain – there's a lot of pressure in that position.
[0:23:33] BW: Totally.
[0:23:33] CH: We never really had a third person that could fill that position, either that type of fencing. Until Kat Holmes, she joined us, but she also – we didn't know if she could do that position. But we just decided one year to just change it up to see if that could happen, and she ended up being like such an amazing person in that position. Really, changing that dynamic in our team is what led us to win that World Championships. Because, I think we had only done it that year, and we had just done so well that part of that year, I think. It was such a cool thing to see the pressure was not all on me. I'm not that it's all on you at the anchor, but it's just what it feels like to me when you're out there and winning or losing for the team. It was so cool to support somebody else, and be there for somebody else. And they go and do it, and it's like, your support with your fencing, you also support your team with fencing. But also, emotionally, I understand that position and how hard it can be.
Just seeing our dynamic change, and it'd be so successful was just a really cool, really cool thing. And yes, I mean, for the women's épée program, and yes, we won the only medal for the Olympics, and the World Championships team. It's an honor to provide that, and I hope that it elevated everyone's fencing a little bit more after that because that's really what I hope, is that our legacy – I won't say legacy, whatever you want to call it. Our performance just elevated other people. It's hard to see it that way when you're fencing, because it's again, it's so competitive, and you're so individual, and you're still competing against people. But I really think that whenever one or two people are elevated, that it brings the whole team up. I hope that's what we did, me and my sister, bringing the whole program up, and Kat. So, I really hope that it did, and I think it did. We definitely, after my sister and I saw fencing, the new girls, they definitely are not starting from square one. They definitely, I feel like the bar was raised, and they're doing pretty well. So I hope we contributed somehow in that.
[0:25:42] BW: You may hesitate to use the word legacy, but that's the right word for it. You've got such a great legacy that you've left, and that other women can follow, and just show what Team USA can do in women's épée. You look at other countries and say, "How was Team USA going to compete with them in 2024, 2025, beyond?" But it's like, we've been there, just look what we've accomplished as a country in this weapon. That brings me to a question about kind of the evolution of fencing. So, you've been involved in fencing for 20 years or more. How have you seen this board evolve, and what are you excited for its continued evolution to be as you transition to a coach?
[0:26:26] CH: Again, I hope that we provide more resources for athletes, because I think we're getting that way. We're moving towards that. It's funny, like every time after we – for instance, Notre Dame, we left Notre Dame, and they got all this money, and all this, all these facilities, all new facilities as soon as we leave.
[0:26:48] BW: You're like, perfect.
[0:26:47] CH: Then, whenever we leave fencing, they get all this – the new CEO, he bring so much, and it's like, okay, as soon as we're done. I can see where it's moving in that direction, that there's going to be more resources for athletes and open up more doors for more people. Because it is a really cool life, but the struggle of money is definitely the biggest struggle that we faced.
[0:27:11] BW: Especially when there's other countries too that are funding more athletes than we're currently able to with Team USA. It's like, we are, in that sense, kind of a step behind some of these countries that are fully funding their entire team. I mean, am I right in saying that?
[0:27:28] CH: Yes. Well, I mean it's a government – for a lot of countries, it's like a government-funded thing. That's another different kind of life. I don't know if that's necessarily better.
[0:27:40] BW: That's fair. That's fair.
[0:27:43] CH: It definitely can make more opportunities to make fencers, because people can fence for longer, and not necessarily have to worry about money. It's just, they make good money. Like in Italy, it's very government funded, and they make pretty good money. But yes, I think it's slow, but it's going that direction for the US. I don't think it'll ever be like that kind of government funded, but I think we have definitely going in the right direction, or having more resources for athletes, and having an easier transition, like maybe from college to go to professional. That's definitely what I would like to see. Because also, I wouldn't say I'm totally out of the fencing, I still fence here and there, and I still work out. So maybe in the next Olympics, it's in LA, which would be really, really cool. So maybe I'm not totally out, maybe I am, I don't know yet.
[0:28:36] BW: I noticed you said semi-retirement. I was like, you're leaving the window open, which I love to see. Because a lot of us would love to see you back out there. If you're coaching, then you aren't really – you haven't really stopped fencing, right? You're still putting on the gear and getting out there. So we'd love to see that.
[0:28:52] CH: Yes, I would love to see us continue on this trajectory. Also, I know that the CEO is putting a lot of resources into collegiate fencing, NCAA fencing, and that's something I would also like to see. Because I feel that the NCAA scene was a little sad. There's not that many universities that do it, and so there's only a few that dominate. So it could be so much bigger than it is. I like that it's definitely going in that direction.
[0:29:22] BW: Yes. You want to see for the sport to grow at that level, you want to see – I mean, obviously, you are a Notre Dame grad. We'd love to see Notre Dame win every year. But that's actually probably not the best thing for fencing if you have one team winning year, after year, after year, right? It's probably good to have a little bit of parity there, and to have other schools stepping up, and taking those trophies from time to time. And yes, Phil, our CEO has been doing a great job of trying to expand that NCAA footprint.
But before we let you go; I want to ask about your advice for younger fencers. Because I always like to ask this question, because we've got a lot of young listeners, and parents of young listeners who would love to someday fence in college, or fence internationally, or even make the Olympics someday. What's your advice to them on helping them chart that kind of course.
[0:30:15] CH: It's definitely hard work, but I really, full heartedly believe, and enjoying the process. Because it is – even though there's obviously stresses, or stresses for any process, I think being an athlete can be a really fun life experience. And if you're not having fun with the work that you have to do, you're training, or traveling, or whatever. Then, it's something to maybe look something differently, because you should really enjoy the process. You'll be much more successful, I think, and you'll be able to go for longer, and maybe not get burnt out so easily.
So enjoying the whole process, enjoying the day to day, enjoying the now, I think is advice that I would like to have heard when I was younger. Because you just – you get so caught up with results, or the future, or – I don't want to train today, things like that. That kind of mindset, you don't enjoy. You look back, and you're like, "Oh, that actually was really such a good time. That was a really awesome life I had. This fencing is such an awesome sport. It's so fun." The actual sport when you're fencing, it's a really fun sport. And even though there's a lot of loss, it's such a good sport, I think, to learn so many lessons, to be athletic, to meet a lot of cool people, to travel the world. I think it's a really cool sport. So, enjoying and loving the process make your life better, happier, and also, I think it'll show on results as well.
[0:31:51] BW: That's great. I think that's really great advice. That's a good place to leave it, words of wisdom from a world champion and three-time Olympian. Thank you so much, Courtney for chatting with us. Best of luck in coaching, traveling, and fencing. We wish you all the best.
[0:32:07] CH: Thank you very much for having me.
[END OF INTERVIEW]
[0:32:11] BW: Thanks for listening to First to 15, the official podcast of USA Fencing. We'll be back with our next conversation in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can stay up to date on all the latest fencing news by following us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you liked this podcast, please help us grow and reach more people by leaving us a rating or review. Until next time, I'm Bryan Wendell, and I hope to see you real soon out on the strip. Bye.
[END]