UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lion men's and women's fencing teams, under the direction of interim head coach Adam Kaszubowski, have added the talents of Olympian Alkesandra 'Ola' Shelton. Ola has competed in four Olympic games and has a number of international medals on her resume.
Shelton was part of saber fencing teams that won bronze, silver and gold at the European Championships in the early 2000s. She won an individual European Fencing Championship gold in 2004 and a silver again in 2011. Shelton competed for Poland in International Military competitions as well and is now competing for the United States internationally. Shelton was the first woman to ever represent Poland at the Olympic games in women's saber. She participated in the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Shelton was a sparing partner for Team USA at the 2020 Olympic Games (held in 2021 in Tokyo).
For the past 10-plus years, Shelton has been a coach at the Oregon Fencing Alliance and has been a member of the US National Team in recent years. Prior to that she spent a year as a coach at the All-American Fencing Academy in North Carolina.
Shelton has also been a fitness trainer as well as a member of the Polish Military, earning the rank of Kapral. She is a 2007 graduate of the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland, earning a Combined Studies BA and a Master of Physical Education. A few years later, she earned a postgraduate studies degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Collegium Civitas in Warsaw. Shelton is married to Bradley Shelton, and they have one son, Henry.
Penn State will head to Philadelphia, Pa., for the Temple Open on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 29-30, in its next action. Penn State fans are encouraged to follow Penn State fencing via Twitter at @pennstatefen, on Instagram @pennstatefen and on Penn State Fencing's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatefencing.
