PLOVDIV, Bulgaria, May 5-7, 2023—USA’s Olympic champion Lee Kiefer won the individual gold medal at the Plovdiv Women’s Foil World Cup, and France won the team gold. The event took place at the Plovdiv International Fair, Hall 3, with 197 individual fencers and 25 teams participating in the competition.
Kiefer faced France’s world champion Ysaora Thibus in the final bout of women’s individual foil, winning with a 15-11 score. In the semifinal round, Thibus won against teammate Morgane Patru, 15-7, while Kiefer defeated Hungary’s Flora Pasztor, 15-6.
In the women’s team foil event, France won against Italy in the final match, 45-41. In the semifinals, Italy defeated Canada, 45-40, while France beat USA, 45-38. The bronze medal went to USA over Canada, 45-36.
Final rankings for women’s individual foil included Lee Kiefer (USA, gold), Ysaora Thibus (FRA, silver), Flora Pasztor (HUN, bronze), Morgane Patru (FRA, bronze), Sera Azuma (JPN), Eleanor Harvey (CAN), Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk (POL) and Karin Miyawaki (JPN).
Final rankings for women’s team foil included France (gold), Italy (silver), USA (bronze), Canada, Japan, China, Poland and Germany.
Complete and official results for the event may be found here on the FIE web site. For more exciting world fencing news and features, check out the YouTube FIE Fencing Channel