Alexander Massialas


Alexander Chen Massialas is an American right-handed foil fencer. He is a two-time NCAA champion, 11-time team Pan American champion, two-time individual Pan American champion, and 2019 team world champion who is currently the fencing coach for the Stanford Cardinal.
A four-time Olympian, Massialas first competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, where he was the youngest male athlete representing the United States. He later won the Olympic silver medal at the Fencing at the [2016 Summer Olympics – Men's foil|2016 Summer Olympics Individual Men's Foil] competition and is a two-time team Olympic bronze medalist, first at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for men's team foil and then at the Fencing at the [2020 Summer Olympics – Men's team foil|2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics for men's team foil].

Early life and education

Massialas was born and raised in San Francisco, California, to a Taiwanese American mother and a father of Greek descent. His mother, Chwan-Hui Chen, immigrated from Taiwan to attend graduate school in the United States, where she studied piano and pedagogy. Massialas' maternal grandfather ran a Taiwanese company, King Chong Hong, which imported Asian ingredients and utensils to the U.S. In 2021, Massialas recalled in an interview, "I have always been extremely proud of my Taiwanese heritage and I jump at any opportunity to return to Taiwan".
Massialas' father, Greg Massialas, fenced for the United States in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics, and has coached the American national foil team. Massialas' sister, Sabrina, is also an Olympic fencer.
From pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, Massialas was enrolled in the Chinese [American International School] in San Francisco, California, where he began fencing as a child. After graduating from the Drew School, he attended Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 2017. In July 2023, Massialas worked at MHC Engineers, a mechanical engineering firm owned by his maternal uncle, Meng Hsiu-Chen.

Fencing career

After he showed spontaneous interest at an early age, his father made him wait until he was seven years old to begin training.
An athletic child, Massialas played soccer and made the basketball and the swimming teams at Drew School. He enrolled at Stanford University on a fencing scholarship in the fall of 2012. He closed his freshman season by winning the 2013 NCAA title in individual men's foil. He repeated this feat in 2015, after falling to David Willette in 2014's semifinal round.
In July 2024, Massialas was named the head fencing coach for the Stanford Cardinal.