It’s not every day that you come across black Olympic medalists known for fencing. Darryl Homer is one of five black athletes to earn a spot on the U.S. Fencing team and compete in Rio. His love for the sport led him to a rightful place in history.

The 26-year-old became the first American to win a silver medal in the men’s individual sabre fencing since 1904. Homer is also the first American to win a medal in the individual sabre since Peter Westbrook won bronze in 1984.

He was born in St. Thomas and raised in the Bronx, making his Olympic debut at the 2012 London games, placing sixth individually. So how did he get to this point?

Curiosity.

At age five, Homer stumbled across fencing in a children’s dictionary and the rest is literally history. Coincidentally enough, his mom inquired about the sport and later enrolled him in the Peter Westbrook Foundation. Yep, that Peter Westbrook who would go on to become Homer’s mentor.

Everything has come full circle.

“The matches are battles,” Homer told NBC. “You’re literally trying to kill someone or take someone’s soul as people call it or just destroy someone. And there’s a lot of psychological warfare, there’s a lot of screaming—it’s very aggressive.”

He posted this heartfelt message via Instagram after achieving the honor.

I don't know where to begin. Yesterday I repeated three things to myself all day. The first was that the Lord will only put things in front of me that I can handle. The second was one touch at a time and the third was that out of many I AM the one. It's been one long and difficult year. A lot of naysayers. A lot of people said I fell off, but I never lost sight of my goal. I really felt that everything I was going through would only make me stronger for this moment. Thank you to my family @julesmith001 @meeks1019 , to my friends who've stayed with me all the year and picked me up when I was down (a special shout out to @jpth75 whose kept me calm during our stay here and in between matches), to my fans old and new, and most importantly to my coaches and teammates. You pushed me to be better everyday and it's you that I rely on each day for support. I had one goal yesterday.. To inspire. I wanted children all over the world to look at my performance and see that all things are possible and that with the right amount of passion, hard work, and a lil bit of luck you too can be great. This is just the beginning. Thank you all again!

A photo posted by Daryl Homer (@daryldhomer) on

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Black-excellencedaryl homerFencingHistoryNBColympicsSports