[3] He was a five-time Olympian for the US, won a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics, and was the only American men's foil fencer to reach the finals at the world championships until Gerek Meinhardt won a bronze medal in the 2010 World Fencing Championships.

[6] A heart murmur kept him from participating in most sports, so his mother encouraged him to learn fencing at Stuyvesant High School in New York City.

[7] Axelrod served in the US Navy in World War II, and then attended the City College of New York.

[7] His greatest athletic achievement was winning the bronze medal in Individual Foil competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

[10][11][3][12][13][14][15] Professionally Axlerod worked for the Gruman Corporation as an electrical engineer, but would drive to Manhattan to practice fencing three nights a week.