Lee Kiefer was made for fencing greatness.
Her father, who introduced her to the sport, captained the Duke fencing team in the 1980s. Her sister Alexandra was an NCAA fencing champion in 2011. At 17, she won the first of her seven world championship medals and her trophy cabinet also includes five NCAA championship titles from her time at Notre Dame. She was also the first U.S. women’s fencer to earn a No. 1 world ranking in foil. Then her career reached the Olympic summit in 2021 with a gold in Tokyo.
But on Sunday at the Grand Palais, built in Paris in 1900 to glorify French art, Kiefer drafted her chef-d'œuvre. The 30-year-old dominated the competition to win Olympic gold, becoming the first U.S. woman to win back-to-back gold medals in foil.
“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," Kiefer said on Sunday. "Each day was a rollercoaster, but here we are at the top.”
It was a big day for U.S. fencing all around. Across from Kiefer in the gold-medal match was American compatriot Lauren Scruggs, marking the first time in 124 years that Team USA had won multiple medals in women’s foil. Appearing in her first Olympics, the 21-year-old Scruggs won four matches of her own to reach the final, becoming the first Black woman to medal for U.S. fencing after winning an NCAA championship at Harvard.
In the end, Kiefer prevailed, 15–6, to add to her Olympic legacy, while Scruggs made it clear that her career is just getting started. The duo could yet add to their haul in Paris when they join forces in the team foil event later this week.
For Kiefer, there is even more at stake at the Grand Palais this week. Her husband, two-time Olympic bronze medalist Gerek Meinhardt, is also competing for the U.S. fencing team in Paris. They both also attend medical school at the University of Kentucky.
“It's so special to have my family [here], all my best friends who I haven't even seen," Kiefer said. "I tried to spot them in the crowd. But it makes it so much fuller."
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lee Kiefer Celebrates Back-to-Back Gold Medals in Historic Day for U.S. Fencing.
