Early years

McDowald began fencing at 12 years of age.^[4] He attended St. John's University ('18), in Queens, New York, where he fenced for the St. John's Red Storm.^[2] His fencing club is the Peter Westbrook Foundation.^[2]

In 2017, the Queens Newsletter reported that former Olympic bronze medalist Peter Westbrook "remembered a much different McDowald, a young and smug one, when he began fencing. He recalled his initial doubts about his character... 'Now, he’s become humble,' Westbrook said. 'One day, Curtis is going to make that Olympic team. Before, he couldn’t because his pride and ego got in the way. We smacked that out of him...'"^[5]

In June 2018 he won a bronze medal in épée at the 2018 Pan American Fencing Championships. In March 2019 McDowald won a bronze medal at a Buenos Aires Fencing World Cup in Argentina.^[4]

2020—present

He competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he lost in his opening round of individual épée, and fenced with the US epee squad that lost in its opening round of team épée.^[6][7][8][9] In 2021, a GQ journalist described his personal admiration for McDowald, but noted that he was in the minority and that one commenter feared McDowald's approach to fencing would lead to it being "full of disrespectful trash players."^[10] In June 2023 McDowald was ranked 57th in the world in épée.^[4]

In June 2023, USA Today reported that McDowald through his misbehavior may have destroyed the opportunity of his entire Team USA men's épée squad to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.^[11][12] McDowald was fencing as part of the squad in the semi-finals at the Pan American Fencing Championships in Lima, Peru.^[11] After he was penalized for misbehavior lost the match, when his opponent extended his hand seeking a post-match handshake, instead McDowald angrily slapped the fencer's hand.^[11] He then had an angry outburst and kicked a free-standing banner adjacent to the competition area, putting his foot through it.^[12][13] Because of his actions, the entire U.S. men's épée team was completely disqualified, preventing it from competing in the bronze-medal match, and was not given a finishing position at the tournament.^[14] It was thereby stripped of its accumulated points, and left with zero Olympic qualifying points.^[15][12] The U.S. had entered the Games as the top-ranked team in the event.^[12]

USA Fencing released a statement saying: "We are disappointed by Curtis's actions and regret that they have harmed Team USA's chances of fielding a men's épée team for the 2024 Olympics."^[15][12] It said McDowald would not be eligible to compete at the 2023 Fencing World Championships.^[12][15]

In the fall of 2023, McDowald competed at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, as a member of the U.S. men's épée team that won the gold medal. He was required to stay in a separate hotel away from the Athlete Village, because of an ongoing investigation into a prior incident over which the U.S. Center for SafeSport (SafeSport) had exercised jurisdiction.^[16]

Subsequently, on November 3, 2023, McDowald was temporarily suspended by USA Fencing due to allegations that he had engaged in misconduct in an unrelated incident.^[16][14] He was prohibited from being present at any USA Fencing sanctioned event, club, meeting, facility, education session, or otherwise.^[16] SafeSport upheld the temporary suspension, and exercised jurisdiction over the matter.^[17]