Fencer becomes first US athlete to win Olympic medal in individual foil

Lee Kiefer made history on Sunday as the first American athlete to win gold in the individual foil at the Olympics.

Kiefer, who previously competed in the 2012 London Games and in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, beat Russian opponent and defending champion Inna Deriglazova 15-13, according to The Washington Post and WLWT.

After she beat Deriglazova, she took off her mask and celebrated.

According to the Post, the only other female fencer to win gold during the Olympics was Mariel Zagunis, who took home medals in 2008 and 2008 for individual saber.

Kiefer’s win chalked up the ninth medal that the U.S. won at the Olympics, NBC Olympics reported.

The University of Kentucky, where Kiefer attends medical school, celebrated her win and that of Will Shaner, who won gold in the men’s air rifle 10m. Shaner is a junior at the university and competes on their rifle team.

“Because having two gold medalists deserves another tweet. Congratulations to UK’s Lee Kiefer and Will Shaner on their @Olympics wins in Tokyo! #WeAreUK,” the school tweeted on Sunday.

Olympian Gerek Meinhardt, Kiefer’s husband, also celebrated his wife’s win on Twitter.

My wife just made my #Olympics dream complete @leetothekiefer :first_place_medal:GOLD

Words can’t describe how bad she wanted this, how hard she worked, or how proud of her I am.

Thank you ALL for the incredible words of support. We felt each one of them. @TeamUSA @USAFencing HISTORY!!! pic.twitter.com/RGbBc8U4dB

— Gerek Meinhardt (@GerekMeinhardt) July 25, 2021

.@leetothekiefer becomes the first American to win individual foil GOLD @usafencing x @teamusa x #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/wYUuNOU33m

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 25, 2021

According to Sports Illustrated’s running Olympic medal tracker, the U.S. has won four gold medals, two silver and four bronze as of Sunday evening, coming in third place overall.