(L-R) Race Imboden, Gerek Meinhardt, Miles Chamley-Watson and Alexander Massialas celebrate their men's team silver medal at the Prince Takamodo World Cup on Nov. 13, 2016 in Tokyo.
The United States men’s foil fencing team earned the silver medal Sunday at the Prince Takamodo World Cup in Tokyo.
The foursome of Miles Chamley-Watson, Race Imboden, Alexander Massialas and Gerek Meinhardt, team bronze medalists at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, came into the contest fresh off Chamley-Watson’s first individual world cup gold a day earlier and bolstered by Massialas’ individual world No. 1 ranking.
The Americans received a first-round bye by virtue of their world No. 1 ranking. They opened their competition with a 45-17 quarterfinal victory over Hong Kong, followed by a 45-34 win against Italy, the team they beat for Olympic bronze.
That led to a gold-medal showdown between the U.S. and Olympic champion Russia. The Russians scored the upset win, 45-35, earning their first win over the U.S. in three meetings since 2006.
The U.S. is now two-for-two in world cup medals, having earned silver at last month’s season-opening world cup in Cairo.
The U.S. fencers now turn their attention to Dec. 2, when they travel to Torino, Italy, for a grand prix event.
