iles Chamley-Watson doesn’t quite roll like other athletes in fencing, his relatively low-wattage Olympic sport. The American medal hopeful at the Paris Olympics, for example, returned home for a week in May from a competition in Shanghai—Team USA won gold in the team foil event—before jetting off to Monaco watch one of his best friends, fellow globe-trotting sportsman , race in ’s crown-jewel event, the Monaco Grand Prix. He bounced back to the U.
S. to tune up for the Olympics, before jaunting off to Paris in late June to participate in Vogue World, a one-day fashion celebration at the Place Vendôme that also featured the likes of Gigi Hadid, and and Venus Williams. From Paris, Chamley-Watson, 34, took a fight to Peru, where his U.
S. team again took first place in foil. “I don't tell all my teammates all the stuff I do because it's just kind of unrelatable,” Chamley-Watson says.
“I don't wanna seem like an a–hole.” Most fencers, particularly in the U.S.
where the government doesn’t subsidize the sport, struggle to make a living pursuing their passion. But Chamley-Watson, who stands 6 ft., 4 in.
, is covered in tattoos, and has worked as a fashion model to supplement his income, has delivered a rare dash of celebrity flair to his sport. He has attracted a slew of top-tier sponsors like Nike, Red Bull, Richard Mille, Mercedes, and AirBnB. He just signed on with Tinder.
“As tattoos are my thing, as you can see,” he said in a cheeky spot for the dating a.