PARIS, France — If it were a separate nation, Notre Dame would rank ninth in gold medals and 10th in total medals at the Paris Olympics.
The Fighting Irish increased their counts to three golds and six medals with another fencing gold Thursday at the Grand Palais.
With a team featuring two-time individual champion Lee Kiefer of the Fighting Irish, the United States won Olympic gold in women’s team foil for the first time in history.
The No. 2-seeded Americans beat top-seeded Italy 45-39.
That followed wins over Canada 45-31 in a semifinal and China 45-37 in a quarterfinal.
Four medals have come in fencing and two from swimmer Chris Guiliano.
Kiefer beat Lauren Scruggs 15-6 Sunday in an all-USA final in individual foil, becoming the third woman of any nation to win two more golds in that weapon.
She is the first three-time Olympic gold medalist in U.S. fencing history. Kiefer, 30, a four-time Olympian, was a four-time NCAA champion for Notre Dame.
The gold-medal team: Kiefer, Lexington, Ky.; Scruggs, Queens, N.Y.; Jackie Dubrovich, Maplewood, N.J.; Maia Weintraub, Philadelphia.
Women’s team foil has been in the Olympics since 1960, and the Americans’ only previous medal was a silver in 2008. They lost the bronze-medal match at Tokyo in 2021.
“We have been dreaming of gold for three years since the last Olympics and have been slowly working and trying to be positive and confident,” Kiefer said. “It takes many years. You just hope, you don't expect.”
The Americans’ run started against China with a decisive 8-2 leg by Kiefer. Against Canada, with the Americans trailing 6-2 before the third leg, Kiefer outscored her opponent 13-4 to put them ahead to stay.
Against Italy, Kiefer recovered from a 4-2 deficit against No. 1-ranked foil fencer Arianna Errigo to end the first round with a 5-4 lead. The Americans maintained the lead through every leg thereafter.
Mariel Zagunis, also a Notre Dame graduate, is the only other American gold medalist in women’s fencing, winning saber in 2004 and 2008.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.