April 5, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Former University of Notre Dame fencers and Olympic bronze medalists Courtney Hurley and Kelley Hurley have announced their intentions to pursue a third Olympic bid together as sisters.
The Hurleys, who have competed for the U.S. National Epee Team in London (2012) and Rio (2016), will look to once again join the team in Tokyo in 2020.
The 29-year-old Kelley, who had previously considered retirement, was an NCAA Champion in 2008 and runner-up in 2007. The older Hurley also competed in Beijing in 2008 as the only American woman to qualify in epee.
Courtney, 26, was a two-time NCAA Champion in 2011 and 2013, as well a four-time first-team All-American. She joined her sister in her first Olympics in London, where the U.S. captured the bronze medal in the team event, marking the first time women’s epee team had earned a medal.
The Hurleys, who are both ranked in the top three nationally in epee, have most recently placed in events in Hungary, Italy and Spain and plan to compete at the U.S. National Championships in Baltimore on April 21.
— ND —
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.