Lee Kiefer (born June 15, 1994) is an American right-handed

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

fencer. Kiefer is a four-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

champion, ten-time team Pan American champion, nine-time individual Pan American champion, and 2018 team world champion. A three-time Olympian, Kiefer is a 2021 individual Olympic champion. Kiefer is the first American foil fencer in history to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Kiefer competed in the

2012 London Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Career

Kiefer was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Lexington, Kentucky.Lee Kiefer
Team USA. Retrieved 27 July 2021, Her mother Teresa, a psychiatrist, was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the US as a child, and her father Steve, a neurosurgeon, once captained the Duke University fencing team. She graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in 2012. She attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, where she fenced for the

Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Divisi ...

and graduated in 2017. She is now a medical student at the

University of Kentucky College of Medicine A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. Her sister is former Harvard foil fencer and 2011 NCAA champion Alex Kiefer, who is now a doctor. Kiefer also has a younger brother, Axel, who was the 2015 USA Fencing National Championships Junior Gold Medalist, and who also attended and fenced foil for the University of Notre Dame, coming in second in the 2019 NCAA Championship. Kiefer earned a bronze medal in

Women's foil at the 2011 World Fencing Championships The Women's foil event of the 2011 World Fencing Championships took place on October 11, 2011. Draw Finals Top half Section 1 Section 2 Bottom half Section 3 Section 4 External links Bracket {{DEFAULTSORT:Women's Foil At The 2011 World ...

. She placed 5th at the 2012 London Olympic Games, after losing to eventual silver medalist Arianna Errigo in the quarter final, 15–10. In the 2014–15 season she climbed her first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

podium with a silver medal in Saint-Maur. She went on to win the Algiers World Cup in early 2015 after defeating world No.1 Arianna Errigo, who had prevailed over her in Saint-Maur. By winning at the 2014 NCAA Fencing National Championships, she joined male fencer

Gerek Meinhardt Gerek Lin Meinhardt (born July 27, 1990) is an American right-handed foil fencer. Meinhardt is a two-time individual NCAA champion, 12-time team Pan American champion, three-time individual Pan American champion and 2019 team world champion. A f ...

and swimmer

Emma Reaney Emma Reaney (born October 20, 1992) is a former competition breaststroke and individual medley swimmer and current swim coach. She is an 8-time All-American (all in individual events) and 5-time All-American honorable mention (4 individual and ...

as part of the 2nd

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

trio to be named individual national champion in a single year and the 4th to be either individual national champion or national athlete of the year in a single year. Following her win at the Long Beach Grand Prix on March 18, 2017, she moved into #1 in FIE world rankings, becoming the first American woman to hold the #1 position. She qualified to represent the United States in fencing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 and reached the final in the individual foil. In the final, she defeated

Inna Deriglazova Inna Vasilyevna Deriglazova ( rus, Инна Васильевна Дериглазова, , ˈinːə dʲɪrʲɪˈɡɫazəvə; born 10 March 1990) is a Russian right-handed foil fencer. Deriglazova is a two-time team and two-time individual Euro ...

, the defending champion, with a score of 15–13 to win gold. She is the first American, male or female, to win the gold medal in Olympic individual foil.

Personal life

Lee and fellow foil fencer

began dating in January 2012. They were engaged in January of 2018 and married in September 2019.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Pan American Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

NCAA Championship

References

External links

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Profile
at the United States Fencing Federation {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiefer, Lee 1994 births Living people American female foil fencers American sportspeople of Filipino descent Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2011 Pan American Games Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Notre Dame Fighting Irish fencers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in fencing Pan American Games medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (Lexington, Kentucky) alumni Sportspeople from Cleveland Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky University of Kentucky College of Medicine alumni 20th-century American women 21st-century American women World Fencing Championships medalists