Q&A: Bringing home gold
This summer, Boston College Assistant Fencing Coach Ralf Bissdorf was busy accomplishing something no one else ever has: leading the American women’s foil squad to a team gold medal at the Olympic Games. On August 1, the Americans defeated top-ranked Italy in a gold medal match before a packed Grand Palais, solidifying the U.S. as a powerhouse in the sport and giving Bissdorf, a former silver medalist in men’s foil, another victory to celebrate. Below, Bissdorf shares more about his Olympic experience, and how it will impact his work on the Heights.
What have the last few weeks been like for you?
It’s been a mixture of joy, a deep sense of fulfillment, and a party. That describes it best. When you board the plane for Paris, you hope that everybody comes back with a medal. So to be on the plane back, and for some of them to actually have two medals, because two of them won in the individual competition, is just a great joy. Those are phenomenal athletes and they all deserve an Olympic medal.
You won a silver medal in men’s individual foil at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. How did coaching in the Olympics compare to competing as an athlete?
It’s very different. When you compete yourself, that's your number one goal in life, so everything else is put on hold. As a coach, my normal life had to go on. It’s two and a half years of work and then for the last few months, you really focus on the Olympic Games: getting the team ready, finalizing strategies, making sure that everybody is in good shape.
At 29 when I won the medal, it seemed to be the highlight of my life, and I wasn't sure whether I would ever achieve something of higher significance. But obviously you can't stop living at the age of 29, so you have to set new goals. Nowadays, it seems more fulfilling to do it as a coach, because you help athletes to fulfill their dreams, and you welcome new athletes into this circle of Olympic medalists. It's a more shared joy than when you win it yourself.
Did you like your team’s chances going into the Olympics?
We have four very unique fencers, all great human beings, all individually ranked top 12 in the world at the time we went into Paris. When I got the job, the team was world rank number four, and going into the Paris Olympics we were two, but the reality is, pretty much everybody can beat everybody there in team competition. You cannot assume that you've got anybody beat, you have to stay humble.
That said, I thought from the beginning it was possible to win gold. The team was well prepared, in good shape, and we had good strategies in place, so I liked our odds. We’d beaten Italy, who were ranked number one, the last three times. We’d lost to Canada before, but the last few times we beat them too. And China, I think we had lost once in the last three years, but generally we looked good against them.
After the semifinals I got scolded by Lee Kiefer, the Olympic individual champion, for smiling too much, but I was just confident. You can compare it to a major exam—often you feel like, “Okay, I need another week to prepare,” but when I woke up that morning I didn't want it to be another day. I said, "Today's the day. Let's do this. We are ready, let's go." It's a very rare feeling in life.
What did you say to your team going into the gold medal match against the Italians?
About an hour before the match we went over the strategy. I said, “We have beaten them before. I think we can do this." It was just a normal talk, getting people a little excited, not overly nervous, portraying some confidence and trust. I told them, "Look, you are fencing in front of 6,000 spectators. It’s probably the coolest venue in fencing you have ever seen so far, in the Grand Palais. So go out, enjoy. Showtime. This is it. This is where we want to be, and now let's do this."
Coach Bissdorf (second from right) with the athletes and coaches of Team USA. Photo: #BizziTeam via USA Fencing
What was going through your head when you realized that you'd won gold?
It was primarily the joy that everybody would be going home with a medal. I was just happy for them. I didn't know at the time that it was the first Olympic gold medal for a U.S. fencing team ever, but to achieve something of that magnitude is just pure, pure joy. After we won I walked around trying to soak up the energy in the place, the feeling that I had, so that I could put it in a time capsule in myself and always remember.
What did you think of the players calling themselves the ‘Wreck-it Ralfs’ in your honor?
I actually didn't know about that until later but I thought it was really nice. These are the small things that normally nobody sees or hears, but they make the experience more unique.
Will you continue coaching Team USA?
That's a good question. Obviously, I love all the team members, I love the process, I have a good relationship with a lot of athletes who are coming up through the ranks, but I'm not the only one who has a part in this decision: there’s my wife who I love dearly and there’s the Federation, since all of our contracts expire, so we’ll see.
What will you bring back from this experience to your coaching position at the Heights?
The idea that anything is possible. I like really interesting projects, and I think BC fencing is an interesting project. We are not the number one choice in the country as a college, but we are getting better every year, which is something that I personally find very cool. If you are the underdog, and then over the years you keep improving your situation, I think that's more rewarding. So I’d like to remind the people at BC that it's possible. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time, sometimes one or two stars have to align, but anything is possible. Support the athletes, and let's continue this interesting project.
How will this gold medal impact the sport of fencing in the U.S.?
I think younger, and especially female, fencers are inspired by this medal. Lauren [Scruggs] was also often asked about the Black community, and I think it will have an impact there as well.
With the media attention that we got, and the way the team conducted themselves, I think more people will start fencing. Kids will think, "Hey, that's a cool sport. Those are cool people," so it will grow the sport even more. We’ve shown this can be done, the U.S. can win Olympic medals, so the impact will be there. And I hope it’s huge.