Miles Chamley-Watson, (born December 3, 1989) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

right-handed

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

fencer, 11-time team Pan American champion, 2019 team world champion, 2013 individual world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2016 team Olympic bronze medalist.

Childhood

Miles Chamley-Watson was born in London. He is of Jamaican, Irish, British, and Malawian descent. He spent the first eight years of his life as a resident of the UK until he and his family moved to the United States. Upon arriving to the US, Chamley-Watson and his family settled in New York City, where he began fencing one year later, at the Knox School in Saint James, New York. After spending four years in New York City, Chamley-Watson and his family settled in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

College

Chamley-Watson earned a full scholarship to the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in the year 2008. During his tenure at Penn State, Chamley-Watson majored in Sports Management, where he transferred what he had learned and what he was continuing to learn from the sport of fencing to help boost his knowledge in his area of study.

First year (2008–2009)

During Chamley-Watson's first year as a Division I NCAA fencer, he maintained a 19–4 record. He advanced to the semi-finals round in the national championship tournament in the men's foil category. However, Chamley-Watson was defeated in the semi-finals 15 to 14 by teammate Nicholas Chinman. The Nittany Lions Fencing team ended the tournament on top as the 2008–2009 National Team Champions.

Second year (2009–2010)

Much like his first year, Chamley-Watson went to the semi-final round of the NCAA championships. This time, Chamley-Watson was defeated by Notre Dame's Olympic fencer

Gerek Meinhardt Gerek Lin Meinhardt (born July 27, 1990) is an American right-handed foil fencer. Meinhardt is a two-time individual NCAA champion, 12-time team Pan American champion, three-time individual Pan American champion and 2019 team world champion. A f ...

Junior year (2010–2011)

Nearing the end of his collegiate career, Chamley-Watson had the choice to redshirt his junior year of college or choose to compete and redshirt his senior year. Chamley-Watson decided to compete in the NCAA Championships his junior year and redshirt his senior year.

Senior year (2011–2012)

After finishing 2nd place in men's foil at the NCAA tournament, Chamley-Watson decided that it was time to utilize his allotted red shirt year. During this hiatus from NCAA competition, Chamley-Watson privately practiced fencing. Chamley-Watson would earn himself the top spot on the United States' Olympic Fencing team as a foil fencer.

International career

Chamley-Watson entered the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as the No. 2 ranked foil fencer. His first round in the games he was presented a bye into the next round. In the second round, Chamley-Watson fenced

Alaaeldin Abouelkassem Alaaeldin Mohamed El-Sayed Abouelkassem ( ar, علاء الدين محمد السيد أبو القاسم; born 25 November 1990) is an Egyptian fencer who won a silver medal in the men's foil event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He took up fenci ...

, an opponent representing the country of Egypt, and was defeated 15 – 10. Abouelkassem went on to earn the silver medal in the event. In the team event, the United States beat France 45–39 in the quarterfinals, but lost 24–45 to Italy in the semi-final. In the bronze medal fight, the United States lost 27–45 to Germany. At the 2013 World Championships, Chamley-Watson became the first US fencer to win an individual gold medal at the World Championships. At the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, Chamley-Watson again lost in the second round, this time to Russia's Artur Akhmatkhuzin, 13–15. In the team event, the United States beat Egypt 45–27 in the quarterfinals, before losing 41–45 to Russia in the semi-finals. In the bronze medal match, the United States beat Italy 45–31.

Medal Record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Pan American Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

Personal life

Chamley-Watson has recently been involved in voters rights, participating the ID check with

VoteRiders VoteRiders is an American non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to ensure that all US citizens over 18 years old are able to exercise their right to vote. Through resources and media exposure, one of its main focuses is ...

and urging his followers to do the same. He is currently dating Riverdale actress

Madelaine Petsch Madelaine Grobbelaar Petsch (born August 18, 1994) is an American actress and YouTuber. She is known for portraying Cheryl Blossom on The CW television series '' Riverdale'' and Marissa in ''F the Prom''. Early life Petsch was born on August 1 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chamley-Watson, Miles 1989 births American male foil fencers Living people Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in fencing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Sportspeople from London Fencers at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Sportspeople from New York City Sportspeople from Philadelphia English emigrants to the United States