Is Tokyo champion Lee Kiefer participating in Paris Olympics 2024? Everything about the American fencer's plans

Fencer Lee Kiefer is set to represent the United States in her fourth Games at the 2024 Paris Olympics, having competed for the nation during the London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020 editions. The fencing events at the Paris Olympics are scheduled between July 27 and August 4 at the Grand Palais, where Kiefer will be in action in foil fencing.

The Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Lee was among the first set of fencers to qualify for the Paris Olympics, being ranked the No. 1 fencer in her discipline and earning two bronze medals at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.

She will represent the USA in the individual and team events at the 2024 Paris Olympics in foil fencing along with Lauren Scruggs, Jackie Dubrovich, and replacement athlete Maia Weintraub (team sport only).

Lee will be in action at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the women’s epee individual rounds of 64, 32, 16, 8, semi-final, and gold-medal match are all scheduled on June 28. On the other hand, the women’s team events, including Round of 8, semi-finals, and finals, are scheduled for August 1.

During the 2024 Olympic season, the seven-time World Championships medalist Lee Kiefer made an appearance in the Cairo World Cup where she came second. She also participated in Grand Prix events this season, including the Turin, Washington DC and Shanghai stages, winning the gold medals in the first two stages and placing third in the last stage.

Lee Kiefer’s performance at the Olympics

Lee Kiefer

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Lee Kiefer showcased her brilliance in the individual foil fencing after defeating Russian Olympic Committees (ROC) athletes Inna Deriglazova and Larisa Korobeynikova in the finals (15-13) and semi-finals (15-6) to become the Olympic champion.

Kiefer's victory against Deriglazova was a huge accomplishment considering the athlete had clinched the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics while representing Russia. With this, Kiefer also became the first American in the category to win an individual gold medal.

In the debut Olympics in 2012, she came fifth after being defeated by Arianna Errigo, who eventually claimed the silver. She lost to Errigo in the quarters by 10-15. During her second Games in Rio, Kiefer’s campaign was halted by People's Republic of China’s Liu Yongshi in the Round of 16.