If France isn’t precisely the birthplace of fencing, it’s shut — this nation’s ardour for swordplay dates again to King Charles IX within the sixteenth century.
However on Sunday night on the 2024 Paris Olympics, it was two People who claimed possession of the game, charging into the finals of the ladies’s foil competitors on the storied Grand Palais.
And it was defending champion Lee Kiefer who made historical past.
Three years after her sudden gold on the Tokyo Video games, the top-seeded Kiefer continued to dominate the occasion with a file second title, defeating ninth-seeded Lauren Scruggs 15-6.
Lee Kiefer, left, confronted off with Lauren Scruggs in an all-American girls’s foil ultimate on Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Instances)
This wasn’t the primary time an Olympic fencing championship featured two American girls. Mariel Zagunis defeated teammate Sada Jacobson for the saber title on the 2008 Beijing Video games.
2024 Paris Summer time Olympic Video games
However the underdog Scruggs helped make this one notable. After a collection of shut bouts, she seemed virtually snug within the semifinals, taking an early lead in opposition to Twelfth-seeded Eleanor Harvey of Canada and sustaining management for a 15-9 victory.
After the deciding contact, the Queens, N.Y., native turned to her coach with eyes huge, then started to cry.
Lee Kiefer, middle, of the U.S. bites a gold medal subsequent to silver medalist Lauren Scruggs, left, and bronze medalist Eleanor Harvey from Canada after the ladies’s foil ultimate Sunday.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Instances)
The route was a bit harder for Kiefer, who wanted a burst of touches to defeat third-seeded Alice Volpi of Italy, 15-10.
Within the years since Tokyo, Kiefer has targeted on augmenting her repertoire. A defensive fencer by nature, she has been making an attempt to assault extra usually.
“I really feel like I can nonetheless get so significantly better and nonetheless develop and advance,” she stated earlier this yr. “Which may sound stunning if in case you have an Olympic medal and also you’re ranked No. 1 on the earth, however the nuances are a lot enjoyable.”
The work paid off Sunday as she deftly shifted gears relying on the opponent and circumstance. Towards Scruggs, she opened an early four-touch lead and was by no means critically challenged.
Within the bronze-medal bout, Harvey defeated Volpi to make it a clear sweep for North America. Together with her victory, Kiefer can now deal with rooting for husband and two-time bronze medalist Gerek Meinhardt within the males’s foil on Monday.