Elaine Cheris

Elaine Gayle Cheris (January 8, 1946 – August 19, 2026) was an American Olympic foil and épée fencer.

Background Cheris was born in Dothan, Alabama, on January 8, 1946, and was Jewish. She earned a BS in Physical Education and Sports Psychology at Troy University, where she competed on the men's track team, in 1971.

Cheris died on August 19, 2026, at the age of 80.

Fencing career Cheris began fencing at 29 years of age. She was working at the time as the assistant athletic director at a Jewish Community Center in New Haven, Connecticut, where she put together a fencing program and decided to try the sport.

Cheris did compete for the United States in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul in foil at the age of 42 (she was knocked out by Italian silver medalist Laura Chiesa, 15–13), and in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta in épée at the age of 50 (the second-oldest female US Olympic fencer ever, after Maxine Mitchell). Cheris has authored Fencing: Steps to Success (2002), which is a step-by-step teaching method.