♪♪ ♪♪ -Oh.

Oh, I got it.

And...

I haven't used one of these in so long.

[ Clicking ] [ Clicking, whirring ] Yeah, I had -- [ Clears throat ] So, I had made up my mind to be done the year before.

So I knew 2008 was it.

♪♪ [ Crowd chattering indistinctly ] I'm suffocating inside my mask.

Can't breathe.

♪♪ And I feel the weight of everyone.

♪♪ But I have to fence.

Got to fence.

-En garde!

[ Shouting in French ] [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ -Voom!

Make him full short.

As I am attacking, I step out of bounds.

[ Cheers and applause ] And all the Russians start celebrating like they won.

And there was like a 10- or 15-minute discussion for the video replay and all this crap going on.

And I remember, like, just saying a little prayer.

I was like, "I've been through so much this year.

God, Mom, Dad, whatever, you got to help me through this."

[ Crowd chanting indistinctly ] ♪♪ ♪♪ I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, Flatbush, where it's majority, like, West Indian.

♪♪ My mother had come to America when she was in her 20s.

♪♪ Her and my dad wanted us to go to college.

That was their focus.

So they began asking and doing research about, like, what are the best scholarship opportunities?

My dad worked at Sports Illustrated at the time, and he saw an article come across his desk about Peter Westbrook, Olympic bronze medalist from 1984.

Peter had decided to start the Peter Westbrook Foundation specifically to help kids from inner-city neighborhoods, black kids, and introduce them to the sport of fencing.

-The first medal of any kind by an American sabre competitor.

-And I says, "Alright, you guys, let me introduce you to this sport."

And I took them there.

-Erinn, my younger sister by 18 months, she was talented.

And they were like, "Oh, my God."

Like, "This is a prodigy."

And she was.

Basically, Erinn received a fencing scholarship on the spot.

-That's it!

-Yes, Erinn!

-Erinn just won her match.

-But my parents, which was very smart on their part, was, "Well, if you're gonna give one to Erinn, you have to give one to Keeth."

And they were like, "What are you talking about?"

Like, "This kid sucks."

And they were like, "No, you know, I'm not gonna let my daughter come all the way to the Upper West Side by herself.

He's gonna be basically her chaperone.

And if he's gonna be there, he might as well fence."

♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] -Oh, wow, when is Keeth gonna hit that one?

-Yeah, you see that?

-Peter and the guys -- they looked at me as this kid who had never made any result.

So, the first rule they made was a 7-0 shutout.

So, if you couldn't get one point until their seventh, you were off the strip for the whole night.

I would literally get one bout in.

They'd beat me 7-zip, I'm upstairs doing footwork for the rest of the night.

Then I got good enough where I could get one point.

So, then they changed the rule to 9-1 shutout.

♪♪ And this happened for my first three years of high school.

♪♪ I didn't even think fencing was in my future.

So I went to a very competitive high school -- Brooklyn Tech.

-Close-up.

Alright, close up.

Kiss him.

-Like, I was focused on becoming an engineer.

So, I was just kind of, like, holding my breath for Erinn to make the Olympic team, and then my fencing career would end, and I'd move on into the sunset.

[ Man speaking indistinctly on radio ] -I don't want no stupid -- -Erinn, get the hell out the -- -For real.

-You want the picture?

Look.

Look.

Picture.

Where's Erinn?

Look.

-[ Speaking indistinctly ] Look.

Hi, Keeth.

This is Keeth.

[ Speaks indistinctly ] My battery's dying.

My mom's first suggestion to me was, like, "You know, Keeth, I watch you fence, and you're just not like a tiger.

And I need you to roar like a tiger."

[ Chuckling ] So... [ Woman speaking indistinctly ] ♪♪ -Go ahead.

-My dad, back then -- -Well, people, here I am.

-"Dance around.

Move them.

Do whatever it takes, but then hit them.

Like, bam!"

you know?

"Oh, okay.

Not that simple."

-Six.

-Come on, Keeth.

What are you doing?

-My senior year of high school, everyone makes the World Championship team in the club except for myself.

♪♪ -Aah!

-Peter comes to me, and he's like, "Where's your warm-up jacket from World Championships?"

And I'm like, "I don't have one."

-Yes!

Yes!

-Aah!

-There it is.

There it is.

Look at that view now.

-So, that's when I doubled down.

♪♪ I decided to train even harder, that I would be the underdog.

When people would stop practicing at 8:00, I would stay till 9:00.

We're gonna go up and down the strip, and I don't care if they're dripping in sweat and I'm dripping in sweat, but they're gonna have to fight for every touch.

They're gonna be in a war.

♪♪ -Stay close.

Stay close.

-What do I want to do?

-Just take a step back and pick up the parry.

But you cut under every time.

♪♪ Bravo!

♪♪ [ Crowd cheering ] [ Crowd cheering ] -I remember when you were 11 years old.

I remember when you couldn't hold the weapon.

♪♪ -[ Laughing ] -Wow, man!

-Whoo!

♪♪ ♪♪ -And welcome back to the show.

I'm Tom McDonald, and it's the first time I've ever held one of these in my hand.

Sort of, like, cool, you know?

Like a movie.

And my guest -- I better put this down -- Keeth Smart.

Welcome to the show.

-Thank you.

-And this is a clue as to why he's here.

He grew up in Brooklyn?

-Correct.

-And is now one of the best fencers in America?

-Yeah, as well as in the world right now.

-In the world.

Wow.

That's impressive.

-And Keeth, who is the first American fencer to rank number one -- the world number-one ranking.

Keeth, what's your last name again?

-Smart.

-Smart.

And what are they wearing this morning?

-They have on some fun flip-flops -- beach flip-flops.

-Having your life story turned into a melodramatic montage narrated by Bob Costas.

-Yes!

Exactly!

-This is good for camcorder.

[ People speaking indistinctly ] -From what my mom told Erinn and I at the time, it sucked that she had been diagnosed with cancer, essentially a year before the Games.

And the only option for her to go to the Olympic Games was to take a double dosage of chemotherapy.

-Keeth!

-She wasn't fully recovered, but she was, like, recovered enough and strength enough where she was like a normal tourist at the Olympics.

So, it was the summer of 2005.

One of those days where it's 98 degrees, high humidity.

When they say, "Don't work out outside," you're not supposed to work out outside.

There's a reason why they say that.

And my dad -- You know, he was a Vietnam vet.

So he was, like, kind of stubborn.

And he went for a jog.

"Mom, I'm on top of the Eiffel Tower.

Just wanted you to know.

Hey, Mom, I'm in Tunisia.

Just wanted you to know.

I'm in Moscow.

You would love it here."

Every day we spoke.

♪♪ Erinn and I would alternate weekends flying to Florida to be with our mom... -Keeth, what do you think of this experience?

-... to take her to chemotherapy.

-I'm gonna try to come back one of these days.

♪♪ -And then we would fly to World Cup.

♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, that I really, really appreciate this.

I don't want to cry or anything.

But... it was a tough year, and you all helped me make it through.

Each and every one of you contributed.

I remember when I started chemotherapy, I said, "Whatever anybody gave me, whether it was a big help or a little help, I was gonna appreciate it."

And I really thank you all.

And I can't say anything more.

You broke me.

[ Laughs ] I didn't think I'd get broken, but I broke.

Thanks again.

-So, finally, the last World Cup was in Algeria.

So, when I came back from Algeria, I felt lightheaded.

The next morning, my eyeballs were covered in blood, and there was blood blisters all over my skin.

I was like, "Holy cow!"

Like, "I'm, like, just bleeding to death."

So, the diagnosis was ITP.

It's a form of leukemia.

So, that's why I was bleeding through my eyes, bleeding out of my ears.

I just made the Olympic team.

You know, I was like ranked fourth in the world.

They were like, "I don't think you understand.

You should be dead, and you will never fence again, let alone any physical activity."

♪♪ I go to the specialist, and he said -- he was like, "Look, I don't know if this will work, but at this point, we have nothing to lose.

And based off of your physical conditioning, this will be a great case study for myself."

[ Laughs ] I was like, "Oh, Mom, did you have porridge today?"

She was like, "Yeah, but I only ate a little bit."

I knew, like, she was dying.

I wasn't stupid.

And I would tell her, "They cleared me to walk," and she was like, "Thank you, Lord!"

"Today they cleared me to, like, run around the block."

And she's like, "Thank you, Jesus!

Thank you, Lord!"

And towards the end, I got cleared to start to, like, fence.

"Thank you, Jesus!

Thank you!

Thank you!

I knew you would be back."

As I was given the all-clear sign, my mom died the same weekend.

[ Coughs ] So, now it's June.

Everyone else in the world has trained every day.

They're professional athletes.

I haven't done anything for two months.

And the Olympics were two months away.

Due to all the medication I had taken, I would get winded just by going up a flight of stairs.

So, for the next two months, I trained like I'd never trained before in my life.

♪♪ -Let's go.

Come on, man.

Let's go.

Let's go.

♪♪ Fix your hat, man.

Your hat -- ♪♪ ♪♪ -USA!

USA!

USA!

-USA!

USA!

USA!

[ Crowd cheering ] -"Mom, Dad, God, you got to help me through this."

♪♪ But in fact, it was a nullified touch.

Back en garde.

♪♪ And then I said a little prayer -- "I've come too far.

Take me home, Mom and Dad."

♪♪ [ Crowd shouting indistinctly ] -Fight!

[ Cheers and applause ] -Dada.

Dada.

Dada.

-You're saying "dada."

Yes, Taylor?

-Dada.

Da.

[ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪