Harvard student makes history with silver medal in Olympic fencing
Harvard student Lauren Scruggs won the silver medal Sunday in foil fencing, making history as the first Black fencer to win an Olympic medal in an individual women’s event for the United States.Another Team USA athlete, Lee Kiefer, won the gold. It was her second in back-to-back Olympics and the fifth of all time in an individual event for a U.S. fencer. She follows Mariel Zagunis in 2004 and 2008 as the only American fencers to win gold in the same event twice.There hadn’t been an all-U.S. final in an Olympic fencing event since 2008 when Zagunis beat Sada Jacobson in saber as part of an American podium sweep. Before that, the last time it happened was in 1904.According to Harvard’s athletic website, Scruggs was the NCAA Women’s Foil Champion as a sophomore and was also the regional champion during the previous year. She was also the youngest U.S. foil fencer to win the Junior World Championship. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Harvard student Lauren Scruggs won the silver medal Sunday in foil fencing, making history as the first Black fencer to win an Olympic medal in an individual women’s event for the United States.
Another Team USA athlete, Lee Kiefer, won the gold. It was her second in back-to-back Olympics and the fifth of all time in an individual event for a U.S. fencer. She follows Mariel Zagunis in 2004 and 2008 as the only American fencers to win gold in the same event twice.
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There hadn’t been an all-U.S. final in an Olympic fencing event since 2008 when Zagunis beat Sada Jacobson in saber as part of an American podium sweep. Before that, the last time it happened was in 1904.
According to Harvard’s athletic website, Scruggs was the NCAA Women’s Foil Champion as a sophomore and was also the regional champion during the previous year. She was also the youngest U.S. foil fencer to win the Junior World Championship.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.