Foil, Team, Men

The exact make-up of the winning team was controversial for many years, as it was often called a Cuban team, and one member, Albertson Van Zo Post, was often labelled a Cuban athlete. Van Zo Post actually had no Cuban background, but his two Cuban teammates, Ramón Fonst and Manuel Díaz, had strong American connections. In 1904 Díaz was a student at Harvard College, while Fonst frequently competed in the United States, although he had grown up in France. This mixed team easily defeated the US team, 7-2, in the only match in this event. The individual bout scores are not known.

This event was originally scheduled for 6 September and it was expected that two teams would enter, one of fencers from New York and the other from Chicago, but the Chicago fencers did not arrive. The organizers initially awarded the title by forfeit to the New York team of Charles Tatham, Van Zo Post, Fitzhugh Townsend, and Scott O’Connor but they refused, stating they did not come to win prizes but to promote fencing in this section of the country, and they asked that the event be postponed to allow the Chicago team time to arrive. A large crowd had come to see fencing and applauded this show of sportsmanship by the New York fencers. The New York fencers then gave several exhibition bouts of fencing for the spectators. The event was re-scheduled for 8 September and was finally held on that date. A Chicago team had still not arrived and so a “New York” team, which included Arthur Fox of the Chicago Athletic Association, competed against the mixed US-Cuban team.