USA Fencing

SANTIAGO, Chile — It’s been 16 years since the Pan American Games last crowned a women’s foil champion not named Lee Kiefer. But to be fair to the Tokyo Olympic champion, Kiefer was just 13 years old in 2007. 

With a gold medal on Monday at the 2023 Pan American Games, Kiefer (Bluegrass Fencers Club) extended her gold medal streak at the quadrennial event to four in a row. She won her first Pan Am Games crown in 2011 at age 17 and hasn’t stopped since, winning in 2015, 2019 and now 2023. 

“I’m happy to still be fencing,” she says. “This tournament, for me, was practice for this upcoming grueling Olympic qualification season, so I'm really proud how fiery I was and how crisp.”

Fresh off a silver medal at the October 2023 NAC, Kiefer flew more than 4,000 miles, arriving in Santiago about 36 hours after stepping off the medal stand in Orlando. Her two finals, resulting in a silver in Orlando against teammate Maia Weintraub and a gold in Santiago against Canada’s two-time Olympian Eleanor Harvey, were separated by just 72 hours. 

All that Pan Am Games experience seems to have paid off, Kiefer says, because she’s a stronger fencer than she was at her first Pan Am Games in 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“I would say I’m a lot more dynamic — a lot smarter,” she says. “I think it’s easy to be more in your head the older you get because you have a body of work behind you. I’m proud of myself being present and just fighting hard.”

Even while enjoying the medal, Kiefer is ready to get back to work, sharpening her skills before the first FIE (International Fencing Federation) tournament of the season for women’s foil — Dec. 8–10 in Novi Sad, Serbia.

“So we had the NAC and then we had this, and I have things I want to work on,” Kiefer says. “But [I have] things that I also do well that I need to remember, too.”

When it comes to fencing success at the Pan Am Games, Kiefer already stood alone when she won her third gold in 2019. Her victory today only extends that incredible record.

No other American fencer has won more than two golds at the Pan Am Games, let alone four. Other multi-time individual champions include:

• Kat Holmes, Women’s Epee: 2015, 2019
• Harold Goldsmith, Men’s Foil: 1955, 1959
• Alexander Massialas, Men’s Foil: 2011, 2015
• Peter Westbrook, Men’s Saber: 1983, 1995

The first day of fencing competition saw a well-run tournament that attracted an exciting pro-Chilean crowd. The venue, a shiny new facility that will become a Paralympic sports center after the Pan Am Games, got loud every time a Chilean fencer scored a touch — even during pools.

Also spotted in the crowd: three members of the U.S. archery squad who wanted to show support for their fellow members of Team USA. That’s something you’ll only find at a multisport tournament like this one.

Team USA Results

• Women’s Foil
  • Lee Kiefer: Gold
  • Jackie Dubrovich: 5th
• Men’s Epee
  • Curtis McDowald: 6th
  • Samuel Imrek: 10th