Picture by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
A venue as majestic as the Grand Palais demands athletes of the same quality: step up Lee Kiefer.
The defending Olympic fencing champion came to Paris with her eyes on the prize, aiming to become the first woman to defend her foil individual title since six-time Olympic gold medallist Valentina Vezzali in 2008.
And she delivered.
"I'm still stunned,” Kiefer told Olympics.com straight after her gold medal bout, “I don't realise it happened just because it's been such a long day with a lot of highs and lows. But here we are making history, it's awesome. Thank you to all my loved ones who are cheering Stateside, all my loved ones who are here, this is for you.”
For a sport as elegant as fencing, the Grand Palais is the perfect venue for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. A key site of French cultural heritage in the heart of the capital, its beauty is evident through the towering archways and Parisian elegance.
It had added anticipation for these Games; the Grand Palais had been closed since 2021 and temporarily re-opened for the first time to host fencing and later taekwondo. For now, it was doors wide open for the public and all eyes on the American.
There was so much emotion in Kiefer’s duels, every point won met with a fist pump or celebration of some sort. When she won her semi-final against world number four Alice Volpi of Italy, Kiefer screamed out loud as her coach, Amgad Khazback kissed the ground. A guaranteed medal and a chance to defend her title.
This was the first all-American final in the history of the Olympic women’s foil competition, one that had the feeling of David versus Goliath. Lauren Scruggs, debut Olympian at 21-years-old and outside the top 10, against Kiefer, defending Olympic champion and world number one.
Scruggs had impressed in her semi-final duel against eventual bronze medallist Eleanor Harvey of Canada, but Kiefer meant business.
The 30-year-old dominated from the first moment, quicker at every duel and laying killer blows in the opening minute. Kiefer was powerful yet graceful, on fire but composed, throwing everything she had at her opponent to make sure she would retain that gold medal.
Her performance was everything that the Grand Palais deserved, what the thousands of fans had come out to see. Kiefer, a medicine student outside of fencing, delivered precision on the piste.
She was dominant until the end, winning six of the last seven points and finishing the job off inside the first period. Lee Kiefer: back-to-back Olympic champion.
Fencer Lee Kiefer of the United States celebrates her gold-medal victory in the women's individual foil at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 28 July 2024.
Scruggs was a worthy opponent and won a deserved silver, but there was no standing in the way of Kiefer in her path of claiming USA’s third gold of the Games.
“These have been the most epic last few days of my life, being on the boat for the parade at the Opening Ceremony and then just taking in the grandeur of the Grand Palais. This is not real life," said Kiefer. "I don’t think my life is going to change. That's just me, I’m chill. I’m a good fencer and I still have a lot of studying to do!”
As the American anthem played and the tears filled up in her eyes, Kiefer could let everything out. The Grand Palais demanded grace and Kiefer answered the call.
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