Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs Earn Gold and Silver for USA Fencing

Lee Kiefer (Lexington, Ky.) tried not to feel the pressure of repeating as Olympic champion, even while knowing deep down that earning a second Olympic gold medal would be tougher than earning her first.

“No matter how much I tried to prepare, there’s still so much pressure I put on myself to just fence well and stay present,” she says.

Kiefer, who fences for the Bluegrass Fencers’ Club in Kentucky, was already the first American woman or man to win gold in foil. Now she’s the first to do it twice, cementing her legacy as one of the greatest fencers in U.S. history. She joins Mariel Zagunis (women’s saber gold in 2004 and 2008) as the only American fencers with two individual Olympic gold medals.

Kiefer’s opponent in the gold medal final was Lauren Scruggs (Queens, N.Y.). Scruggs, who fences for the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York City, becomes the first Black woman to win an individual fencing medal (of any color) for Team USA. 

She also becomes just the second American woman to win an individual medal (of any color) in foil, joining Kiefer. “I’m definitely more happy than disappointed,” she says. “I generally would say I think it was shocking for me to be here in the first place. So I don’t even think I’ve had time to process.”

The last all-American final in women’s foil in any senior-level international fencing competition was in 2016, when Lee Kiefer fenced her Tokyo 2020 Olympic teammate Nicole Ross. Kiefer becomes the third woman to win multiple Olympic gold medals in the women’s individual foil event, after Valentina Vezzali (ITA, 3) and Ilona Elek (HUN, 2).

Path to the Podium

Round of 32 

Lauren Scruggs def. Amita Berthier (SGP), 15-13

Lee Kiefer def. Martyna Jelinska (POL), 15-13

Round of 16

Lauren Scruggs def. Jessica Zi Jia Guo (CAN), 15-11

Lee Kiefer def. Qianqian Huang (CHN), 15-9

Quarterfinals

Lauren Scruggs def. Arianna Errigo (ITA), 15-14

Lee Kiefer def. Flora Pasztor (HUN), 15-4

Semifinals

Lauren Scruggs def. Eleanor Harvey (CAN), 15-9

Lee Kiefer def. Alice Volpi (ITA), 15-10

Finals

Lee Kiefer def. Lauren Scruggs, 15-6