PARIS, France, July 28, 2024 – USA’s Olympic champion Lee Kiefer and Japan’s Koki Kano won gold medals in individual women’s foil and men’s epee fencing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In all, 12 gold-medal events in individual and team epee, foil and sabre are being held at the Grand Palais from July 27 to August 4.
Women’s Individual Foil (34 Fencers)
Kiefer faced teammate Lauren Scruggs in the final bout of women’s foil, winning the Olympic gold medal with a score of 15-6. She is the third woman in history to win multiple Olympic gold medals in women’s individual foil, after Valentina Vezzali (ITA, 3) and Ilona Elek (HUN, 2). In the semifinal round, Scruggs won against Canada’s Eleanor Harvey, 15-9, while Kiefer defeated Italy’s two-time world champion Alice Volpi, 15-10. Harvey won the bronze medal bout against Volpi, 15-12. Of note, in the quarterfinals Scruggs beat Italy’s two-time world champion Arianna Errigo, 15-14, and in the round of 32, Poland’s Julia Walczyk-Klimaszyk won against France’s world champion Ysaora Thibus, 15-12.
“I feel good, I feel relaxed, my face hurts from smiling so much”, said Kiefer. “No matter how much I prepare, I put pressure on myself and work to fence well and stay present. As a woman, we’ve seen so much growth in our women’s programs in the past decade for me and for Lauren to be on the podium, it really makes a statement.”
The top eight includes the following fencers:
- Lee Kiefer (USA, gold)
- Lauren Scruggs (USA, silver)
- Eleanor Harvey (CAN, bronze)
- Alice Volpi (ITA)
- Arianna Errigo (ITA)
- Martina Favaretto (ITA)
- Anne Sauer (GER)
- Flora Pasztor (HUN)
Men’s Individual Epee (35 Fencers)
Kano faced France’s world champion Yannick Borel in the final bout of men’s epee, winning the gold medal with a score of 15-9. This is the first-ever Olympic gold medal in an individual fencing event for Japan. In the semifinal round, Borel won against Egypt’s Mohamed Elsayed, 15-9, while Kano defeated Hungary’s Tibor Andrasfi, 14-13. Elsayed won the bronze medal against Andrasfi, 8-7, the first Olympic individual epee medal for Egypt. Of note, in the round of 16, Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Kurbanov defeated France’s world and Olympic champion Romain Cannone, 15-10 and Belgium’s Neisser Loyola beat Hungary’s world champion Gergely Siklosi, 14-13. In the round of 32, Venezuela’s Grabiel Lugo won against Hungary’s world champion Mate Tamas Koch, 15-10, and Andrasfi beat Venezuela’s Olympic champion Ruben Limardo Gascon, 15-10.
“I am so very happy, but I am tired”, said Kano. “It’s a very good feeling. I had to focus very much today. This is so important, because it’s the first individual gold medal in fencing in Japan, and this is history.”
The top eight includes the following fencers:
- Koki Kano (JPN, gold)
- Yannick Borel (FRA, silver)
- Mohamed Elsayed (EGY, bronze)
- Tibor Andrasfi (HUN)
- Federico Vismara (ITA)
- Ruslan Kurbanov (KAZ)
- Masaru Yamada (JPN)
- Neisser Loyola (BEL)
The full schedule for Paris 2024 Olympic fencing may be found here.
Find official photos from this and other events on the FIE Facebook page.
Complete and official results for these events may be found here on the FIE web site.