To win one Olympic gold is a mountain to climb. But Filipino-American fencer Lee Kiefer has done it — two times over.
Fencing may be a relatively niche sport, but even so, you have likely already heard the name Lee Kiefer.
This could be owed to the fact that she is a Filipino-American athlete (we know how sports fans in the Philippines love to rally around athletes with Filipino heritage). But, we think that her popularity goes beyond her roots; her success in the fencing world speaks for itself.
Lee Kiefer is a two-time Olympic gold medalist for women’s individual foil. Put up against the top fencers in the world, she won not once, but twice in a row, taking the top step of the podium in both the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Representing the United States, she was awarded her second Olympic gold medal after she defeated her teammate Lauren Scruggs, 15-6, in the women’s foil final of the Paris Summer Games.
If you watched any of the fencing matches in the Games (including the Philippines’ Sam Catantan’s valiant fight), you know that the competition is fierce. But Lee Kiefer’s second Olympic gold is just one of the many reasons she is a truly inspiring athlete.
Here are three things to know about the Filipino-American fencer.
She wrote history as a fencer
Lee Kiefer has Filipino roots thanks to her mother, Teresa, who was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States when she was young. Having grown up in Lexington, Kentucky, Lee represents the United States as an elite fencer.
Carrying the United States flag, she traveled to Japan in 2021 for the Tokyo Olympics, where she became the first American, man or woman, to win a gold medal in the individual foil event. Adding to this, she is also only the second American to win an individual fencing gold, taking after Mariel Zagunis, who was an Olympic champion in the individual sabre event in 2004 and 2008.
And if Zagunis could win two, Kiefer proved that she could do it, too.
In the Paris Olympics, she doubled down on her titles, winning the gold medal for individual foil once again to further solidify her legacy as an athlete.
She is a dedicated med student
Lee Kiefer, however, is not just an elite fencer; the 30-year-old is also a medical student at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
The workload of a medical student is not an easy weight to carry, and neither is the weight of being an elite athlete. Kiefer understands this on a personal level, as throughout the last 10 years, she has been splitting her time doing both.
But, in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, she knew she had to make some sacrifices if she wanted to focus on pursuing another gold. Given this, she has put her medical studies on hold for the meantime and has been fencing full-time.
After winning her second Olympic gold medal, it is safe to say that her sacrifice has paid off.
Her walls are lined with medals
Lee Kiefer’s two Olympic gold medals are definitely her most prized possessions and are the two pieces of hardware that many people will be talking about for a long time.
However, Kiefer has enough medals and awards to light up an entire room.
Among her many awards, she has seven World Championship medals (one gold, two silvers, and four bronzes), six gold medals from the International Fencing Federation’s Grand Prix, five gold medals from the World Cup, and 19 gold medals from the Pan American Championship. And there are many, many more to count.
Lee Kiefer is a true-born champion, and she will long be remembered for it.
Banner image from Lee Kiefer on Instagram.
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