Alen Hadzic

Alen Hadzic (Alen Hadžić; born November 15, 1991) is an American former épée fencer.

In 2023, he was ranked 361st in the world in men's epee.

He had attended Montclair High School and Columbia University, competing for the fencing teams at both schools.

A Title IX complaint of sexual abuse was lodged against him with the university, and after an investigation Hadzic was suspended by Columbia University for one year, and barred from the fencing team.

Though he was banned from representing Columbia University, he wasn’t banned from fencing at large, and Hadzic went on to coach boys and girls on the Tappan Zee High School fencing team.

In 2011-12 fencing for Columbia, he had a record of 32-22.

Buzzfeed reported that Aufrichtig ignored several complaints about Hadzic's abusive behavior for years, and that while he was a member of the USA Fencing board of directors, Aufrichtig did not report complaints about Hadzic to other board members.

In Hadzic's last competition, he was given a black card for his extreme misbehavior while fencing at the NCAA NorthEast Regional, expelled from the tournament, and had all of his records in the tournament expunged.

While he was attending Columbia University, a complaint of sexual abuse by Hadzic as he pinned her down was lodged against him with the university by a student, and an investigation under Title IX was undertaken.

At the time, he already had a reputation for targeting drunk women at parties.

In 2013 the lawyer for the woman who was the victim in Hadzic's Title IX case urged USA Fencing to bar Hadzic from competitions, referring to him as a "known rapist" and noting his suspension, but USA Fencing CEO Kris Ekeren asserted that Hadzic hadn’t violated any of USA Fencing's policies.

In June 2021, after three women accused Hadzic of committing sexual misconduct against them, and at least 10 witnesses supported the claimants' allegations, the U.S. Center for SafeSport temporarily suspended him from any fencing activities.

But later that month an arbitrator lifted the temporary suspension until his investigation was complete.

She opined that if Hadzic were to participate on the Olympic team, in her view it would not be “detrimental to the reputation of the United States or his sport.”

In the summer of 2021 he traveled to the Tokyo Olympics as an alternate on the men's épée team; he never did compete at the Olympics, however, and Hadzic was therefore not an Olympian.

USA Fencing imposed a "safety plan" to keep him away from other athletes, including requiring Hadzic to stay at a remote hotel that was outside the Olympic Village where his teammates were housed.

All 23 of his Team USA fencing teammates signed a statement calling for him to be banned from their accommodations for their safety.

Hadzic appealed USA Fencing's safety plan, but lost.

By July 2022, at least six women had filed claims of sexual misconduct, including rape, against Hadzic with SafeSport.

In June 2023, after an investigation of over two years, due to his sexual misconduct Hadzic was permanently banned by SafeSport from participating in any activity of or under the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

In December 2023, SafeSport’s decision to permanently ban Hadzic was upheld on appeal, ensuring that he is never again allowed to compete in [U.S.] fencing competitions.

USA Fencing issued a statement saying that the decision: "should serve as a stern warning to everyone that conduct that is threatening, harmful or inappropriate toward anyone in our sport will not be tolerated."

Hadzic was born in Paterson, New Jersey, to Admir Hadzic and Gorica Hadzic.

He later lived in West Orange, New Jersey.

He has Bosnian roots, and is fluent in Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian.

He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, and attended Montclair High School ('10).

There, he fenced épée for the fencing team.

Hadzic then attended Columbia University.

There, he fenced épée for two years for the Columbia Lions under head coach Michael Aufrichtig (who later served on the USA Fencing board of directors).

Due to the results of the investigation which found him responsible, Hadzic was suspended by Columbia University for the 2013-14 year, and kicked off the fencing team.

He later studied at the Vlerick Business School in Belgium.

Though Hadzic was banned from representing Columbia University, he wasn’t banned from fencing at large.

His club was the Fencers Club in New York City, with Alexey Cheremsky as his coach.

In October 2013 the lawyer for the woman who was the victim in Hadzic's 2013 Title IX case urged USA Fencing to bar Hadzic from competitions, noting that Hadzic had been suspended from his university after an investigation into an accusation that he had sexually assaulted a woman.

Both the victim and Hadzic were USA Fencing members.

But USA Fencing CEO Kris Ekeren asserted to the attorney that Hadzic hadn’t violated any of USA Fencing's policies, inasmuch as Hadzic wasn’t a coach or authority figure, and the alleged conduct didn’t take place at a USA Fencing event.

The woman’s attorney called the decision an "intentional misreading" of USA Fencing's own Athlete’s Code of Conduct, which prohibited sexually inappropriate behavior between athletes, and wrote: "A plain reading of this Code of Conduct excerpt renders Mr. Hadzic unfit and thus ineligible to participate. How can the United States Fencing Association, in good conscience, claim its hands are tied and permit the participation of a known rapist into its athletic midst?"

Ekeren never responded to the attorney.

In 2015, Hadzic was coaching both boys and girls on the Tappan Zee High School fencing team, in Orangeburg, New York.

That same year, a young woman said, Hadzic groped her.