(L-R) Alexander Massialas, Miles Chamley-Watson, Race Imboden and Gerek Meinhardt pose for a photo at the men's foil fencing world cup on Jan. 13, 2019 in Paris.
One day after Gerek Meinhardt won the individual silver medal and Race Imboden a bronze, the U.S. men’s foil fencing team kept its world cup team medal streak alive by winning the bronze Sunday at the stop in Paris.
Miles Chamley-Watson, Imboden, Alexander Massialas and Meinhardt defeated Korea 45-41 to reach the podium for the second time in as many world cup events this season and for the seventh time in a row. Coming into this weekend, the team had won six straight world cup golds, including this season’s opener in Bonn, Germany, in November.
The U.S. defeated Brazil in the round of 16, 45-34, then moved on to face Poland in the quarterfinals. A 45-38 victory put the Americans in the semifinals with Russia, but midway through the match, the Russians pulled away and closed out the victory 45-36.
South Korea started off with the lead in the bronze-medal match. Trailing 6-3, Imboden came up big in the third bout to turn that around, however, his 12 touches against Hyogon Kim giving the U.S. a 15-10 lead. Meinhardt, Massialas and Imboden kept the momentum going to stay ahead of the Koreans the rest of the way.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
