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Race Imboden

Imboden in 2015

Personal information

Full name

Race Alick Reid Imboden

Born

April 17, 1993 (age 32)
Tampa, Florida, U.S.

Height

1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)

Weight

172 lb (78 kg)

Sport

Country

United States

Sport

Fencing

Weapon

Foil

Hand

left-handed

Club

N/A

Head coach

N/A

FIE ranking

N/A current ranking

Medal record

Men's foil

Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Bronze	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Team
Bronze	2020 Tokyo	Team
World Championships
Gold	2019 Budapest	Team
Silver	2013 Budapest	Team
Silver	2017 Leipzig	Team
Silver	2018 Wuxi	Team
Pan American Games
Gold	2019 Lima	Team
Bronze	2019 Lima	Individual
Pan American Championships
Gold	2011 Reno	Individual
Gold	2011 Reno	Team
Gold	2012 Cancún	Individual
Gold	2012 Cancún	Team
Gold	2013 Cartagena	Team
Gold	2014 San José	Team
Gold	2015 Santiago	Individual
Gold	2015 Santiago	Team
Gold	2016 Panama City	Team
Gold	2017 Montreal	Individual
Gold	2017 Montreal	Team
Gold	2018 Havana	Individual
Gold	2018 Havana	Team
Gold	2019 Toronto	Individual
Gold	2019 Toronto	Team
Silver	2013 Cartagena	Individual
Bronze	2016 Panama City	Individual
National Championships
Gold	2011 Portland	Individual
Gold	2014 Minneapolis	Individual

Race Alick Reid Imboden (born April 17, 1993) is an American former foil fencer. He is left-handed and competed in the sport of fencing.

Race Imboden has won many awards. He is a nine-time team Pan American champion. He also won six individual Pan American championships. In 2019, he became a team world champion. Race is a three-time Olympian. He earned two Olympic bronze medals with his team. He competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Besides fencing, Race Imboden also works as a fashion model. He models clothes for men.

About Race Imboden's Life
Race Imboden's Fencing Career
Pan-Am Games Protest
Modeling Career
Medal Record
See also

About Race Imboden's Life

Race Imboden was born in Tampa, Florida. His parents named him after a character called Race Bannon from the TV show Jonny Quest. When he was young, his family moved to Atlanta.

Early Sports and Discovery of Fencing

Race first enjoyed sports like inline skating and BMX biking. An accident while inline skating left him with a crooked nose and a scar. One day, he was playing with a toy sword in a park. A person saw him and suggested to his parents that he try fencing. Soon after, his family moved to Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City. He went to Bay Academy for middle school.

Race joined the Fencer's Club in Manhattan. There, he met Jed Dupree and Dan Kellner. Both were Olympic foil fencers from the 2004 Summer Olympics. They helped him learn and grow in the sport. Race also became good friends with his teammate Declan MacPherson.

Education and Training

Race went to the Dwight School, which supported his fencing career. He competed internationally for the first time at age 14. He won a bronze medal in the cadet (under 17) world fencing championships in 2010. After high school in 2011, he decided to focus on training for a year. He joined the Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club. Dan Kellner became his coach there. Later, he chose to attend St. John's University in New York. This was because it was close to his family and coach.

Other Interests

Race Imboden also loves hip hop music. In 2012, he worked at an independent music label called Fool's Gold. He also enjoys being a DJ in his free time.

Race Imboden's Fencing Career

Race Imboden (right) with Team USA on the podium at the 2013 World Fencing Championships.

Race Imboden (left) fencing against Italy's Andrea Cassarà (right) in the 2013 World Fencing Championships.

Race Imboden joined the national cadet (under 17) team in 2010. He ended that year by winning the Cadet National Championship. A year later, he won an individual title at the Senior National Championship in Portland, Oregon. He also won team foil titles at the 2011 and 2012 Pan American Fencing Championships.

Early International Success

At 17, Race joined the senior national team for the 2011 World Fencing Championships in Catania. It was his first big international event. He made it to the quarter-finals. He beat triple world champion Peter Joppich but then lost to France's Victor Sintès.

In the 2011–12 World Cup season, he won a bronze medal in Paris. His strong international results helped him qualify for the US national team. They competed at the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The US team was ranked highest in the Americas. Race finished 9th in the individual event. In the team event, the US team beat France. They then lost to Italy, who won the gold medal. The US team also lost the bronze medal match to Germany.

Winning World Cup Titles

In 2013, Race won his first World Cup title in Havana, Cuba. This was the first time a US foil fencer had won a World Cup in 14 years. He is now one of only two US men's foil fencers to win a World Cup. In June 2013, he won a silver medal at the Pan American Fencing Championships in Cartagena. He lost to his teammate Gerek Meinhardt in the final.

At the 2013 World Fencing Championships in Budapest, Race lost in the round of 16. He was part of the US team that won a silver medal. They lost to Italy in the final. Race finished 10th in the world rankings for the 2012–13 season.

Continued Success and World No. 1 Ranking

Race started the 2013–14 season with a silver medal at the 2013 World Combat Games. In April 2014, he won his second USA Division-1 National Championship. He also placed second in a competition in Seoul and third in Tokyo. The 2014 World Fencing Championships in Kazan were not as successful for him. He lost to his teammate Gerek Meinhardt. The US team finished fifth in the team event. Race ended the season ranked 10th in the world again.

In the 2014–15 season, Race reached the quarter-finals in San Francisco. He then won gold in Tokyo, beating Russia's Dmitry Rigin. He also took a bronze medal in Turin, Italy. In January 2015, he won two gold medals in Paris. He was the first American to win the individual event there. He also won a second gold medal with Team USA in the team event. Race then won a bronze medal in Havana. In April, he won another competition in Melun, France. Two weeks later, he won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Fencing Championships in Santiago. This was his third individual Pan American title.

The 2015 World Fencing Championships in Moscow were disappointing for Race. He lost to Olympic champion Lei Sheng. In the team event, the United States lost to Italy and finished sixth. However, Race ended the season as World No. 1. He was the first American male fencer to win the overall World Cup.

Olympic Appearances and Team Medals

In the 2015–16 season, Race won two more gold medals at the Paris World Cup. This made him the first fencer since 2007 to win back-to-back titles there. These wins helped the United States team qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This meant three American fencers could compete individually. Even though Race won another bronze medal and was ranked 4th in the world, he qualified for the Olympics as an alternate for the team event.

Race Imboden again qualified as an alternate for the United States fencing team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. These games took place in 2021. The US team won its second bronze medal in a row in the team foil competition.

Race Imboden officially stopped competing in fencing in 2023.

Pan-Am Games Protest

At the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Race Imboden and his teammates Gerek Meinhardt and Nick Itkin won gold medals. They won for the US men's foil team. During the medal ceremony, Race knelt on one knee while the United States national anthem played. His teammates stood.

Kneeling during the anthem became a way for US athletes to protest. Race said he did it to bring attention to important social issues. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) criticized his action. Athletes agree not to make political statements during events. The USOPC said they respect his right to speak out. However, they were disappointed he did not follow his commitment. Race had done a similar protest at a World Cup event in Egypt in 2017.

On August 21, 2019, the USOPC placed Race Imboden on probation for twelve months. This was because of his protest at the Pan American Games.

Modeling Career

Race Imboden started modeling for Quest Models. An agent discovered him during the London Olympics. In 2013, he was named one of the most popular new models. In 2015, he began working with Wilhelmina Models. He left college during his first year to focus on modeling and his international fencing career. This was because college rules meant he could not fence for his school if he was paid to model. Race Imboden is now represented by The Society Management New York.

Medal Record

Olympic Games

Year	Location	Event	Position
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Team Men's Foil	3rd
2021	Tokyo, Japan	Team Men's Foil	3rd

World Championship

Year	Location	Event	Position
2013	Budapest, Hungary	Team Men's Foil	2nd
2017	Leipzig, Germany	Team Men's Foil	2nd
2018	Wuxi, China	Team Men's Foil	2nd
2019	Budapest, Hungary	Team Men's Foil	1st

Grand Prix

Date	Location	Event	Position
2014-05-03	Tokyo, Japan	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2014-11-28	Turin, Italy	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2015-03-13	Havana, Cuba	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2016-03-11	Havana, Cuba	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2018-03-16	Anaheim, California	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2018-05-19	Shanghai, China	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2019-02-08	Turin, Italy	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2020-02-07	Turin, Italy	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2021-03-26	Doha, Qatar	Individual Men's Foil	3rd

World Cup

Date	Location	Event	Position
2012-01-27	Paris, France	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2012-05-18	Seoul, South Korea	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2013-05-24	Havana, Cuba	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2014-04-25	Seoul, South Korea	Individual Men's Foil	2nd
2014-11-07	Tokyo, Japan	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2015-01-16	Paris, France	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2016-01-15	Paris, France	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2016-10-21	Cairo, Egypt	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2017-02-10	Bonn, Germany	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2017-10-20	Cairo, Egypt	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2019-01-11	Paris, France	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2019-01-25	Tokyo, Japan	Individual Men's Foil	2nd

Pan American Championship

Year	Location	Event	Position
2011	Reno, Nevada	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2011	Reno, Nevada	Team Men's Foil	1st
2012	Cancún, Mexico	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2012	Cancún, Mexico	Team Men's Foil	1st
2013	Cartagena, Colombia	Individual Men's Foil	2nd
2013	Cartagena, Colombia	Team Men's Foil	1st
2014	San José, Costa Rica	Team Men's Foil	1st
2015	Santiago, Chile	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2015	Santiago, Chile	Team Men's Foil	1st
2016	Panama City, Panama	Individual Men's Foil	3rd
2016	Panama City, Panama	Team Men's Foil	1st
2017	Montreal, Canada	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2017	Montreal, Canada	Team Men's Foil	1st
2018	Havana, Cuba	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2018	Havana, Cuba	Team Men's Foil	1st
2019	Toronto, Canada	Individual Men's Foil	1st
2019	Toronto, Canada	Team Men's Foil	1st