Ketki Ketkar Katie Chan interview on her Olympic goal

In the Ketki Ketkar Katie Chan interview, Ketkar said her Olympic goal became more serious after she reached a senior final while still a junior. She also discussed taking most of a Cornell University season away from national and international competition after an injury, then winning an Ivy League title and placing third at the NCAA championships as a senior. She is now pursuing a mechanical engineering master’s degree at Columbia University while working toward the Olympic Games.

What does Ketki Ketkar study at Columbia University after Cornell?

Ketki Ketkar is pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Columbia University. She told Katie Chan that the coursework feels lighter than it did at Cornell University because she takes fewer classes, with more emphasis on projects than exams. Although she enjoys what New York offers, she prefers Ithaca’s setting.

Projects at Columbia University

A project had kept Ketkar busy on the day we spoke. She was careful not to treat the two schools as directly comparable: her Columbia program is a master’s program, and the number of classes and type of work differ from her undergraduate experience at Cornell.

New York, Ithaca and Vancouver

The cities are a sharper contrast for her. Ketkar described New York as a place where something is always happening, with plenty of places to go but less nature than Ithaca. She said she is not much of a big-city person. Vancouver, by contrast, is one of her favorite cities to visit for a tournament.

How did Ketki Ketkar and Malika get into fencing?

Ketki Ketkar and Malika came to fencing after swimming and playing tennis. They had wanted to try martial arts, but their parents had said no. A fencing demonstration at their swim club caught their attention instead, and their mother eventually signed them up after looking into the sport’s injury risk.

At first, their mother thought fencing sounded dangerous because of the swords. Ketkar recalled that she and Malika kept asking to try it; after their mother did some research, both got their chance and loved the sport.

That shared start still matters to Ketkar’s training. Malika trains with her every day, she said, and coaches her when no one else is available. Ketkar named her alongside her current and former coaches when asked whom she looks up to.

What did Ketki Ketkar say about Team USA fencing and travel?

Ketki Ketkar recalled that her first international competition with Team USA was a cadet event in Budapest in 2019. It was also her first time fencing a team event, and her team won. She later joined the senior team and came to see its tournaments as chances to explore places as well as compete.

Ketkar’s first team event in Budapest

Growing up, Ketkar’s club did not have enough fencers to field teams, so Budapest gave her an unfamiliar format on an international stage. The win made it one of her favorite experiences. Competition then changed during the COVID interruption: tournaments stopped and rankings were frozen for a time. She recalled international tournaments resuming around 2022, when she was also part of the senior team.

World Cups in Barcelona and Vancouver, and juniors in Paris

Asked where she most enjoyed fencing, Ketkar put Barcelona first. The city had hosted a senior World Cup that she said was later discontinued. Vancouver was her second choice, followed by Paris, where she fenced a junior World Cup with spectators in the stands. She remembered children asking for autographs there, a first for her at an international tournament.

Rather than dwell on rankings at every stop, Ketkar tries to treat travel as a benefit of competing. She said she often takes a day or two after a tournament to see the city and eat there.

What did Ketki Ketkar say about her Cornell fencing career?

Ketki Ketkar finished her Cornell University career by winning an Ivy League title and placing third at the NCAA championships as a senior. She also recalled a senior-season top-32 finish at the Vancouver World Cup, her first at that level in two or three years. Her four years included junior international success and an injury-disrupted sophomore season.

Junior success and the interrupted sophomore season

Ketkar recalled placing second in Ivy League competition as a freshman and taking second with the junior team at the World Championships. An injury limited her sophomore season, particularly outside college fencing. She remembered placing third in both Ivy League competition and the NCAA championships that year.

Returning to the senior team and finishing at Cornell

As a junior, she recalled placing sixth in both Ivy League competition and the NCAA championships. It was also her first season back on the senior national team after aging out of juniors. In her final Cornell season, she recalled finishing second at regionals between her Ivy League win and third-place NCAA result.

Ketkar presented that rundown from memory rather than as a complete list of results. What stood out to her about the final year was getting a top-32 World Cup finish in Vancouver again, alongside her collegiate results.

How did Ketki Ketkar come back from her fencing injury?

Ketki Ketkar said her sophomore-year injury was difficult because she had hoped to compete for a place on the junior world team in her final year of junior eligibility. Unable to pursue that opportunity, she took essentially the year away from national and international events. The break helped her return without the stress she had expected.

She distinguished those events from collegiate competitions, which she considered less physically demanding. Taking time away from the national and international schedule meant missing a goal that mattered to her, but it also gave her space to recover before returning to that level.

Ketkar recalled walking into her first national tournament in a while, which she thinks was in April, and feeling happy simply to be there. She said she performed well without feeling stressed, and that getting back into competition became easier from there.

What did Ketki Ketkar say about Olympic training and Malika?

Ketki Ketkar had thought about the Olympic Games since she began competing seriously, but she said the goal became more concrete once she made a senior final while still a junior. Her results showed her she could compete at the senior level. Malika and Ketkar’s coaches remain central to the support she described.

The senior final that changed her goal

Ketkar recalled that Malika asked how she expected to do before a senior event several years ago. Still a junior, Ketkar jokingly predicted she would make the final. When she did, she was shocked; afterward, the Olympic Games felt less like a distant idea and more like something she could work toward.

Training alongside Malika

Ketkar named her current coach, past coaches and Malika as role models. Malika’s help is immediate as well as inspirational: the two train together every day, and Malika coaches Ketkar when another coach is not there. Ketkar said she also has favorite fencers she looks up to, without naming them.

What advice did Ketki Ketkar give young athletes?

Ketki Ketkar advised young athletes to enjoy their sport and avoid overtraining. She had seen talented cadet and junior competitors appear to burn out or lose their enjoyment after doing too much. Her view is that taking a needed break can help an athlete return in a better place.

Taking a break before burnout

Ketkar connected that advice to both enjoyment and health. She said stepping away when necessary can help prevent burnout and injuries, rather than letting the pressure to keep training take over. Ketkar put her advice this way:

if you ever feel like you need a break then it's better to just take a break and then come back because you'll come back better

A few choices away from the piste

In a quick round of personal questions, Ketkar picked mornings over late nights, tea over coffee and a banana as her travel snack. She said she prefers hot chai but iced matcha or green tea. For clothing, she named lululemon for athletic wear and reformation for everyday wear. She does not normally listen to music before tournaments and could not name a walk-up song.