Sada Jacobson, 25, is currently ranked the #1 Women's Sabre Fencer in the world.

When Sada Jacobson tells people she’s a fencer, without a flinch most of them will “air poke” her with their finger. She laughs, “It’s not like I can fight them with my finger!” She takes their misconceptions of cartoonish medievalism with levity.

But there isn’t much humor when she’s training in the gym for the Beijing Olympics. It’s a daily regimen: cross-training, cardio, conditioning, lifting, icing, lunch, footwork, strategy, and of course, hours of fencing. Sada, 25, is currently ranked #1 in the world for women’s sabre, but there’s no time for that to go to her head.

Make no mistake, Sada wants the gold. She took the bronze at the 2004 games. She doesn’t fight off the mat, but this time she’s focused on a tough fight for what she left behind last time.

What would you like to ask Sada? Post your questions here or at iReport.com and tune in to CNN.com Live Friday 2:30 p.m. ET for my interview with Sada.

Lionel Bringuier, 21, is the youngest conductor to lead an orchestra at Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall

Lionel Bringuier and the concept for the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall were born in the same year. Bringuier was born in Nice, France, but a precocious passion for music would inexorably link him to the Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. At 21, he is the youngest conductor to lead an orchestra on the stage, one of the main venues of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Bringuier beat 150 applicants from around the world to become Assistant Conductor of the LAPhil. He applied when he was the assistant conductor of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and a winner of the prestigious Besançon Young Conductors Competition. Bringuier honed much of his career in the “City of Lights” – starting when he was 5 years old, playing cello for the Countess of Paris.

Before snagging the position, Bringuier had never traveled to the United States, much less the “City of Angels.” Now it is his home as he serves his two-year appointment, complete with an office featuring orange leather sofas, Esa-Pekka Salonen as a colleague, and his old friends Mozart and Strauss. Bringuier sums it up best when he says, “Age isn’t important, music is.”

Update: Because of scheduling difficulties, today’s interview did not take place. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Marianna Palka is an actress, writer and director.

The U.S. Drama category is one of the most prestigious at Sundance. At 26, Marianna Palka is the youngest filmmaker with “Good Dick,” a modern-day fairy tale of a boy who fails in love with a reclusive girl. Palka directed and wrote “Good Dick,” and she stars in the film alongside her longtime boyfriend, Jason Ritter.

Palka got to Sundance by way of Scotland. She grew up without a television, but that didn’t stifle her love for entertainment. She started acting with The Atlantic Theatre Company and made films as a teenager.

Palka already has been compared to the likes of Woody Allen, using her talents in front of and behind the camera.

Update: Watch the CNN.com Live interview

Tadashi Nakamura,left, and Yasmin Fedda are both featured in the Short Film Category at Sundance this year.

The Short Film Category at Sundance is full of talented filmmakers, and Tadashi Nakamura and Yasmin Fedda, both 27, are two of the young standouts with their powerful social commentaries.

Nakamura is as a fourth-generation Japanese-American and second-generation filmmaker. His introduction to filmmaking happened at the super-ripe age of 9 days old, in a film directed by his dad, award-winning director Robert A. Nakamura. Now he stands on his own with his film “Pilgrimage,” a tribute to a small group of Japanese-Americans in the late 1960s who transformed an abandoned World War II internment camp into a symbol of solidarity.

Fedda has traveled around the world to produce documentaries on subjects like the Santeria religion and colonial stipends in Syria. She is a Lebanese-Canadian filmmaker currently living in Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the scene of her latest film, “Breadmakers,” about a community of workers with learning disabilities who make organic bread for local shops and cafes.

Update: Watch the CNN.com Live interview