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‘Stay Close’: PBS Film Highlights Olympian Keeth Smart’s Rare Success as Black Man in Sport of Fencing

Keeth Smart (photo via Twitter.com)

Keeth Smart became the first American to reach No. 1 in the world in saber fencing and later won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics. That he was black made it all the more compelling.

In 19 minutes, the sum of Smart’s life plays out in “Stay Close,” an inspiring short documentary that debuted last night on PBS and speaks to one man’s uncompromising desire to achieve in the face of hardship.

Using a combination of black and white animation, raw family footage and interviews, “Stay Close” illuminates Smart’s ascension from a West Indies community in Brooklyn to the apex of a sport blacks rarely compete in: fencing.

4 Comments

  1. nygurl nygurl January 7, 2020

    This is great. I am very interested in learning more and I’d like to shout out another African American fencer. Nzingha Prescod who was a bronze medalist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships. Full disclosure she is an alum of my high school in NYC.

  2. Kat Kat January 8, 2020

    Thanks for this. I was unaware.

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