Lauren Scruggs of Team USA celebrates winning after the Olympic fencing women’s foil team gold medal match against Team Italy at Grand Palais in Paris on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. The image was captured using a robotic camera positioned above the field of play.
Harvard fencer Lauren Scruggs already made history once in Paris and on Thursday she did it again, scoring the final point to earn Team USA's first gold medal in women's team foil.
Scruggs faced a late rally from Italy’s Arianna Errigo, who cut an eight-point U.S. lead to three, but the 21-year-old took the next three points to close out the win and celebrated with a shout of delight.
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“I just didn’t want to be that person who loses after a big lead,” Scruggs said. “I was like, ‘Oh, man, I can’t lose for my own pride.’ It’s kind of what pushed me forward and made me snap out of it.”
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Scruggs let her emotions out after making the final point, ripping her mask off and grabbing her head before throwing her arms in the air and falling to her knees. Teammates Lee Kiefer, Jacqueline Dubrovich and Maia Weintraub all rushed out to celebrate.
Italy's team was seeded first and the U.S. second in the bracket going in, making it a hard-won fight. A big win for the team, and also particularly for Kiefer, who became the first American fencer to win three Olympic gold medals.
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“A team medal for this Olympic Games was my true dream. I think (in) individual there’s a lot of factors and momentum and luck, but as a team, every bout, we’ve put in so many hours of work together,” Kiefer said.
Tears poured down Kiefer’s face as the U.S. anthem played. The 30-year-old said she had realized 23 years of effort had paid off. “I met my goals in fencing,” she said.
This is the fourth fencing medal for the U.S. at the Paris Olympics, and the first ever team gold for U.S. fencing.
Earlier in the games, Scruggs upset Errigo in the Round of 8 during the women's individual foil event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Scruggs then went on to win silver, making it to the final alongside Kiefer who won the gold. Scruggs is the first Black women to win an Olympic medal in an individual women’s event for the United States.
