MILES CHAMLEY WATSON
“What I’ve learned is,
if I can get to the top,
I can bring whoever
the hell I want with me.”
American Olympic Medalist fencer in the 2016 games – Brazil
Most sports need an icon that blazes the trail to show what’s possible and what’s the new normal. Whether that be an Andre Agassi in terms of what you wear on court, or Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo who set new goal scoring records each week, drastically changing how we see the game. Pele, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams are five athletes who have come along at just the right time when each respective sport needs that boost, and catapulted it back into the mainstream psyche. Each has also brought a heroic status to the sport to be known as the GOAT.
This doesn’t come purely from what they do on the field of play, but more from their cultural relevance and the ability to bring new eyes onto traditional sports. Miles did much the same thing for fencing. He brought in a new energy to the sport. A new vision of the sport. He then transcended fencing and is now seen as a cultural figure within fashion and culture. He’s also one of the most focused, driven athletes you’ll ever meet.
Jonathan: So, Miles, you tell me you’re writing a children’s book in between training, modeling and everything else you do?
Miles: Yes, so I have been thinking about this for a while. I basically wanted to write a children’s book about four people that happened to be my friends who go through their life solving these problems together.
You know, I want to do a fun little educational way of just showing kids some ways through life. When you grow up there’s no wrong turn because you can always make a turn and come back in double time. I was like, let’s do it. A fun, really easy way to help kids through some situations.
That’s a great project. So, to rewind you were born in the UK, right?
Yep, born there.
At what point did you get into fencing, because usually in the UK you play football?
So, I was born in north London and straight away they put me in an Arsenal blanket, that’s how rooted in football I was. We lived in London, but at 10 years old my mum and step-dad were like, “we’re moving to New York,” as he worked in a bank. I packed two pairs of trainers in a bag, a toy and said, “Mom, see ya, good luck.” I wanted to run away. I was like, so angry to leave London.
We get to New York and I start at this public school, no one looks or sounds like me. ‘What is going on,’ I’m thinking. The only sports they had at this school were basketball, baseball and tennis. Anyways, long story short I got kicked out of that school for fighting with this kid who kept asking me to say things in my English accent every day. I hated it. My mum managed to get me into a private school then, on the terms that I would take up a sport, but they only offered tennis, badminton or fencing. I thought, ‘yeah sword fighting sounds cool.’ I enjoyed it, getting a bit better and also better at school. Then 9/11 happend and my dad’s like, “we’re moving to Philadelphia.” We get there and I end up in a Quaker school. I couldn’t handle that either, so I ended up dropping out. I then ended up at a boarding school in Long Island, basically my last chance. This is when I’m 15 and really start getting good at fencing and making the Olympic Junior Team.
Thankfully I started to get less and less in trouble as my fencing got better. I mean I did some dumb stuff. I stole my dad’s car, got arrested for drunk driving underage. That was a big turning point, I’m sat on the street and he says, “I’m not mad at you, but I’m disappointed in you. You could have killed yourself or somebody else. Never do that again.” After that I got recruited by Penn State for my fencing. If I hadn’t have found sport, I wouldn’t have turned my life around at that point. However, after a year I quit school to focus on fencing and the Olym- pics. I remember telling my mom, “I’m not going to finish school, I’m going to be the first millionaire fencer.”
It’s amazing how sport can do that. So, you focus on the Olympics. Did you have an Olympic Medal when you went back to college?
I got fourth - the worst place you can get. However, the next year I was the first American to win the World Champion- ships.
Was that World Championship moment the most transformational day for you?
Yeah, I'll never forget that because fencing’s been around for 400 years and I was the first American to ever win. When I came home there was a fencer I knew who worked at McDonald's and he changed the sign outside to ‘Congratulations Miles.’ I was like holy shit, I made it. That’s when Nike came calling too. That's when my life really changed professionally.
So, you were the first American to win a World Championship, but were you also the first person of color to win a World Championship?
That’s right, I was the first American, and my friends called me the first African American, but I suppose I see myself as more a person of color, because of my roots through the UK.
Which you then followed up with an Olympic Medal. Do you see that comes with a role model status?
Yes, and a responsibility to change the stereotype. A hundred percent. Tiger Woods was like my Michael Jordan. He made people want to watch golf, he made me want to watch golf, in a sport that was predominantly white. I could really relate to that. He was doing things his own way.
That showed me that whatever your passion is, as long as you like, put in the work and don’t care about how hard the journey is. What I’ve learned is, if I can get to the top I can bring whoever the hell I want with me.
And then you can show other people it’s possible?
Exactly. I hope that I can give some inspiration and the last two years I’ve really been seeing the impact. That’s why I really wanted to lead by example. You have to be able to see it to be it.
What would be one or two things you would tell your teenage self?
My coach told me this when I was 18 and it has really struck me. I even had it tattooed on me, ‘Never a loss, always a lesson.’ You may have lost, but you aren’t down and out, it’s always the lesson that’s most important. The other thing would be self-belief. All you really need in this world is literally self-belief.
I also wanted to ask, you have gone from being an Olympic Medal winning fencer to more of a well-known athlete these days with a lot of big endorsements and modelling etc. Did you make a decision to create that path for your- self ?
Yes, I knew that the modelling would be a huge help to get exposure into, like, more endorsements. I also realised that I’m an athlete first, fencer second.
Thank you to Red Bull for the imagery and their help with this entire project.