Cuba at the 1900 Summer Olympics

The 1900 Summer Olympics were held in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900.^[1] Cuba's appearance at these Games was it' first-ever appearance at the Summer Olympics. One athlete represented Cuba at the games, fencer Ramón Fonst.^[2] Fonst was born in Havana and moved to France while he was young. There, he began training in fencing.^[3]

The fencing events were held at the Tuileries Garden. Fonst first competed in the men's épée for amateur competitors from 1 to 14 June. In the first round, he had placed first in his pool and qualified for the second round. At the quarterfinals, he had placed third in his pool and nearly missed qualification. He progressed further to the semifinals and once agains placed third in his pool. During the finals, he had won four matches and lost two matches. In the final match of the finals, Fonst went up against Louis Perrée of France who had the same win-loss record. Fonst would eventually win the event and become the first Cuban and Latin American medalist at any edition of the games, both gold and overall.^[4][3][5]

Fonst would then go on to compete in the men's amateurs-masters épée the following day. He had a win-loss record of 6 wins and 1 loss, losing to Albert Ayat of France in one of his rounds.^[6]

Fencing summary

Athlete	Event	Round 1			Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Final
		MW	ML	Rank	MW	ML	Rank	MW	ML	Rank	MW	ML	Rank
Ramón Fonst	Men's épée			1Q			3Q			3Q	4	2
	Men's amateurs-masters épée	—									6	1