USA Fencing

"In fencing, the pressure is on you," says Olympian swordsman turned model Mr Race Imboden. "It's all mental. You have to think of exactly what to do or you will lose. With modelling you just listen and do what you're told. It's actually a refreshing change." 

Unlike the majority of models, Mr Imboden, who has an eye-catching tattoo of the Olympic rings on his arm, didn't embark on a modelling career from being scouted on the street. An agent at Re:Quest Model Management saw him on television when he competed with the US team in the London games. "The next thing you know, I was on runways," he says. "My first show was Duckie Brown. And then that season I did Marc by Marc Jacobs and it rolled from there." Yes, he sees the incongruity in his two career paths. But fencing, in many ways, did prepare him for his second career

"They don't relate to each other that much," he admits. "But when they told me, 'Oh with modelling you're going to have to travel so much, life will be crazy', I was like 'meh...' I've been travelling overseas since I was 14 by myself. I was never at school. I was never there. I was travelling all the time. That was my high school experience. I missed my prom. My life was always in a different country every week."... more>